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ECLECTIC ENGLISH CLASSICS 



THE 

SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 
PAPERS 

FROM THE SPECTATOR 



WITH QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY BY 

HOMER K. UNDERWOOD, A.M. 

HEAD OF THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, B. At. C. DURFEE HIGH 
SCHOOL, FALL RIVER, MASS. 



NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



\ 1 r 



Copyright, 1892 and 1911, by 
American Book Company 

De Cov. Papers 
W. P. I 



C-C1.A28U473 



3 

INTRODUCTION. 



It is impossible to get an adequate idea of the " Spectator " 
without some knowledge of the " Tatler," of which it was the 
direct outcome. English newspapers had been for many years 
under government control, and gave only such news as the 
government allowed. The " Tatler " was a London newspaper 
founded by Richard Steele, and issued three times a week. It 
was designed to form and direct public opinion. Its price was one 
penny. Steele said its name was chosen in honor of the fair sex. 
The papers were signed "Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq.," — a name 
borrowed from one of Swift's characters. The first number was 
issued April 12, 1709. The news was grouped under the titles 
of the different public assembly houses, where the men of that 
day met to discuss and gossip over current topics of state, litera- 
ture, and society, much as they do in the social club-houses to- 
day. Thus, under the title " White's Chocolate House " was 
grouped the news of pleasure and entertainment ; " Will's Coffee 
House," that of poetry and the drama ; the " Grecian," learning ; 
" St. James's," domestic topics, etc. The paper began by merely 
reporting the actions of men, but soon assumed the right to discuss 
the propriety of such actions. In the fifth number of the " Tat- 
ler" Addison discovered the identity of "Mr. Bickerstaff;" and 
he soon became one of the regular contributors, his first paper 

3 



4 IN TROD UC TION. 

being No. 18. Addison and Steele had been friends from boy- 
hood, having attended Charterhouse School together, and after- 
wards Oxford. In the " Tatler " the essay soon took the place of 
that which was strictly news. 

For the " Tatler " Steele wrote one hundred and eighty-eight 
papers, and Addison forty-two. There were two hundred and 
seventy-one in all. The "Tatler" attacked the immorality of 
the stage, gambling, dueling, and other public evils. It was dis- 
continued on Jan. 2, 171 1. As Steele was a Whig, and accepted 
office under a Tory ministry, he thought it inconsistent to con- 
tinue a Whig paper, which, because of its sentiments, might cost 
him his place in the government. The " Spectator " was started 
two months after the discontinuance of the " Tatler ;" viz., March 
1,1711. It was a daily, and ran as such for five hundred and 
fifty-five numbers, to Dec. 6, 171 2. Its circulation was from 
three thousand to twenty thousand daily. For an interim of 
eighteen months it was discontinued. It then appeared three 
times a week, and died Dec. 20, 17 14. 

The " Tatler " was essentially a newspaper. The " Spectator " 
was meant particularly for those who had leisure to read, and 
were themselves thinkers. In place of the coffee and chocolate 
houses, and "Mr. Bickerstaff," was "The Spectator" and mem- 
bers of a " Club," including the following characters and types 
representing different qualities. Sir Roger de Coverley stood for 
simplicity and a high sense of honor ; he was full of reminiscences 
of the past, while his character represented a country gentleman 
of the best kind. Sir Andrew Freeport was the enterprising, 
hard-headed, and hard-hearted money-maker. Captain Sentry 
represented the army and all its interests; the Templar, the 
world of taste and learning ; the Clergyman, theology and phi- 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

losophy ; and Will Honeycomb was the elderly man of fashion, 
and the man about town. 

The chief object of the " Spectator " was to establish a rational 
standard of conduct in morals, manners, art, and literature. It 
abstained from politics, and consisted of essays on the model 
gradually reached in the "Tatler." Of the six hundred and 
thirty-five papers contributed to the " Spectator," Addison wrote 
two hundred and seventy-four ; Steele, two hundred and forty ; 
Budgell, thirty-seven ; Hughes, eleven ; Grove, four ; unknown 
writers, sixty-nine. 

Dr. Johnson said, " Of the half not written by Addison, not 
half was good ;" and that "whoever wishes to attain an English 
style familiar but not coarse, elegant but not ostentatious, must 
give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison." 

The stamp of Addison is distinctly seen on the " Spectator," 
as that of Steele is upon the " Tatler." He once wrote that he 
wished it said of him when he died, that " he had brought philos- 
ophy out of closets and libraries, schools and colleges, to dwell 
in clubs and assemblies, at tea-tables and coffee-houses." He 
grasped the idea of making knowledge popular, and both Steele 
and he are said to have opened a new world to women. Con- 
duct was the very groundwork of the essays. 

It is said that the literary model adopted by Addison was 
taken from a distinguished Frenchman, La Bruyere, but that in 
his " Characters," La Bruyere described only what he saw, while 
Mr. Addison added to this the moral earnestness of a reformer. 
The papers comprising the " Spectator " must always maintain a 
high position in English literature, because of their quaintness of 
conceit, delicacy of touch, and purity of style and language. No 
careful student of our literature can afford to omit a conscien- 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

tious study of these specimens of English style. Among the 
choicest essays of the " Spectator " are the thirty-three papers 
comprising the " De Coverley " series. Of these, Addison wrote 
twenty-one ; Steele, nine ; and Eustace Budgell, three. 

Addison signed all that he wrote by the letters " C," " L.," " I.," 
or " O." Steele usually signed his papers " R." or "T. ;" and 
Budgell, "X." 

The chief events in Addison's life are briefly noted as follows. 
He was born May i, 1672, at his father's rectory, near Ames- 
bury, Wiltshire, England. In 1683 his father became dean of 
Lichfield, where young Addison attended school, soon changing 
for the famous Charterhouse School in London, where he first 
met his friend Richard Steele. In 1687 he entered Queen's 
College, Oxford, where he early distinguished himself writing 
Latin verses. He took the degree of M.A. in 1693, and a fel- 
lowship in 1698, at Magdalen College. His Latin scholarship 
soon gave him prominence in London, for he had in 1693 writ- 
ten a " Poetical Address praising Dryden's Translations," which 
soon brought him to the attention of that poet. Montagu,' 
through Lord Somers, secured a pension for him of three hun- 
dred pounds in recognition of his literary services. He was ex- 
pected to qualify for diplomatic services thereby. After travel- 
ing on the Continent for several years, he returned to England in 
1703, and joined the famous Kitcat Club. In 1704 he was 
appointed commissioner of appeals, succeeding John Locke, and 
secured at the same time further prominence by writing a poem 
celebrating the victory at Blenheim, called " The Campaign." 
Later in the year he was appointed undersecretary of state. 

In 1705 he published "Remarks on Several Parts of Italy," 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

and in 1706 he was appointed undersecretary to Sir Charles 
Hedges. Lord Halifax, in 1707, paid a complimentary visit to 
the Elector of Hanover, and Addison accompanied him. This 
year he wrote the opera of " Rosamond," and a book called 
" The Present State of the War." He was elected to Parlia- 
ment in 1708 ; but, the election being set aside, he was reelected 
shortly after, standing for Malmesbury, and held his seat for life. 

In 171 1, at the age of thirty-nine, we find him alert, polished, 
cultivated, full of experience, ready for the work which was to 
give him lasting fame, — his contributions to the "Spectator." 
Besides the " De Coverley Papers," he wrote many others, hu- 
morous, critical, and serious, and seemed to put his most intense 
efforts and life into his contributions. His most important crit- 
ical papers were those on " Paradise Lost," seventeen in number, 
published in the " Spectator" during 1712. His serious contri- 
butions were published in 1 711, and included some exquisite 
hymns, the most familiar of which is " When all thy mercies, O 
my God." In 17 13 he wrote the tragedy of " Cato," which had 
a long run at Drury Lane Theater. It was quickly translated 
into French, Italian, German, and Latin. After the death of 
the " Spectator," Steele established the " Guardian," to which 
Addison contributed fifty-one papers in 17 13. 

In 1 7 14 Queen Anne died; and the Whigs were again re- 
stored to power, and Addison to politics. He was appointed 
to several important secretaryships, and became one of the lords 
commissioners of trade. In 1 7 1 5 he published the " Freeholder," 
to which he contributed fifty-five papers. On Aug. 3, 1 716, he 
was married to the Countess of Warwick, and the next year was 
appointed secretary of state in Sunderland's ministry. In con- 
sequence of ill health he resigned his position in 17 18. 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

He died of dropsy and asthma, June 17, 17 19, and is said to 
have sent for his stepson Warwick, and said to him, " See in 
what peace a Christian can die." 

Richard Steele was born in Dublin, March 12, 1672, — the 
same year as Addison. His father was a lawyer. At twelve 
Steele entered Charterhouse School, and in 1690 entered Christ 
Church, Oxford. The next year he became postmaster at Mer- 
ton College. Not long after, he entered the army as a cadet. 
The death of Queen Mary furnished him with material for a 
poem, which he published in 1695 under the title of "The Pro- 
cession." While still in the army, he published the "Christian 
Hero," and a comedy, — the "Funeral," acted at Drury Lane, 
1 70 1. During the three following years he wrote several success- 
ful plays. In May, 1707, he was appointed gazetteer and gen- 
tleman in waiting to Prince George of Denmark. The same year 
he married Miss Mary Scurlock, a Welsh lady. 

The "Tatler" was published in 1709, Steele the next year 
being made commissioner of stamps, and also losing his appoint- 
ment as gazetteer. In 171 1 the "Spectator" occupied most of 
his attention, while on March 12, 17 13, he commenced the 
" Guardian," which ran a hundred and seventy-five numbers. 
The same year he both entered Parliament, and started the 
"Englishman." The year 1714 saw many contributions from 
his pen, largely critical and political. 

He was expelled from the House of Commons in March, 
appointed surveyor of the royal stables at Hampton Court, 
deputy-lieutenant of the County of Middlesex, and supervisor of 
the Theater Royal. He became, in 171 5, patentee of Drury 
Lane Theater, was knighted by George I., elected member of 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

Parliament for Boroughbridge, Yorkshire, published " An Ac- 
count of the State of the Roman- Catholick Religion throughout 
the World," and began " TownJTalk." He was appointed com- 
missioner for forfeited estates in Scotland in 17 16. 

During 17 19 the "Plebeian" was begun, as well as "The 
Spinster." Steele was again elected to Parliament in 1722, for 
Wendover, Bucks, and produced at Drury Lane, Nov. 7, " Con- 
scious Lovers." He died Sept. 1, 1729, at Carmarthen, and is 
buried in St. Peter's Church there. 

In addition to those mentioned above, Steele started five other 
papers, which had more or less success ; namely, the " English- 
man," "The Lover," "Tea-Table," "Chit Chat," the "Thea- 
ter." An eminent English critic has said of him, " As a prose 
writer, Steele does not rank with the great masters of English 
style. He claimed, indeed, in his capacity as a Tatler, to use 
' common speech,' to be even ' incorrect ' if need be ; and, it 
may be added, he sometimes abused this license, writing hastily 
and under pressure. His language is frequently involved and 
careless ; and it is only when he is strongly stirred by his subject 
that he attains to real elevation and dignity of diction." 

Eustace Budgell was born in the year 1685. His father was 
Gilbert Budgell of St. Thomas, Exeter. He was a cousin of 
Addison, and owes what small literary reputation he has to this 
fact. He entered Oxford in 1705 at Trinity College, and after- 
wards entered the Inner Temple. He was called to the bar, but 
his intimacy with Addison diverted him from his profession. His 
contributions to the " Spectator " were thirty-seven in number, 
mostly imitations of Addison's style. 

In 1 7 14 he published a translation of " Theophrastus." He 



I o IN TROD UC TION. 

became in this year a member of the Irish House of Commons. 
Through Addison's influence he became accountant-general in 
1 71 7, at a salary of four hundred pounds, which he lost in South 
Sea speculations. Many political pamphlets are attributed to 
him. He contributed to the " Bee," the " Craftsman," and other 
papers, the former being started by him. In 1732 he published 
" Memorials of the Life and Character of the Late Earl of Orrery 
and the Family of Boyles." He committed suicide in 1736, af- 
ter having ruined his character by improper money transactions. 
He is said to have been of unsound mind during the latter part 
of his life. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Spectator Addison 13 

The Spectator Club Steele 18 

Sir Roger on Men of Fine Parts . . Steele 25 

Sir Roger at Home Addison 29 

Sir Roger's Servants .... Steele 32 

Sir Roger and Will Wimble . . . Addison 36 

Sir Roger's Ancestors .... Steele 39 

Night Fears at Coverley .... Addison 43 

A Sunday with Sir Roger . . . Addison 47 

Sir Roger in Love . 1/ . . . . Steele 50 

Sir Roger's Economy Steele 56 

Bodily Exercise ...... Addison 60 

Sir Roger and the Chase . . . Budgell 64 

Moll White, the Witch . . .\ • Addison 69 

Love-making at Coverley .... Steele 73 

Country Manners Addison 77 

Sir Roger's Poultry . Addison 80 

The Adaptation of Animals . . . Addison 84 

11 



12 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Sir Roger Among His Neighbors . . Addison 89 

The Story of Florio and Leonilla . . Addison 93 

Party Spirit Addison 98 

Political Dissensions Addison 102 

Sir Roger and the Gypsies . . . Addison 106 

The Spectator Summoned to London . Addison 109 

The Journey to London .... Steele 112 

A Debate at the Club Steele 116 

Sir Roger in London (/ . . . . Addison 120 

Sir Roger in Westminster Abbey v, . Addison 125 

Sir Roger and Beards .... Budgell 130 

Sir Roger at the Play Addison 134 

Will Honeycomb at the Club . . Budgell 139 

Sir Roger at Spring Garden . . . Addison 142 

Sir Roger's Death Addison 146 



SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 
PAPERS. 



THE SPECTATOR. 

\Addison, in Spectator, No. i. Thursday, March i, 1710-11. l ] 

"Non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucem 
Cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat." 2 

Horace, Ars Poetica, ver. 143. 

I HAVE observed, that a reader seldom peruses a book with 
pleasure till he knows whether the writer of it be a black or a 
fair man, of a mild or choleric disposition, married or a bachelor, 
with other particulars of the like nature, that conduce very much 
to the right understanding of an author. To gratify this curios- 
ity, which is so natural to a reader, I design this paper, and my 
next, as prefatory discourses to my following writings, and shall 
give some account in them of the several persons that are en- 
gaged in this work. As the chief trouble of compiling, digest- 
ing, and correcting will fall to my share, I must do myself the 
justice to open the work with my own history. 

I was born to a small hereditary estate, which, according to 
the tradition of the village where it lies, was bounded by the 

1 Before 1752, when the Gregorian Calendar was adopted in England, it 
was customary to give two numbers for the year between the dates Jan. 1 
and March 25 ; for the legal year began on the later date, while popularly the 
year was reckoned from the former. 

2 Roscommon's translation : — 

" One with a flash begins, and ends in smoke ; 
Another out of smoke brings glorious light, 
And (without raising expectation high) 
Surprises us with dazzling miracles." 
13 



14 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

same hedges and ditches in William the Conqueror's 1 time that 
it is at present, and has been delivered down from father to son 
whole and entire, without the loss or acquisition of a single field 
or meadow, during the space of six hundred years. There runs 
a story in the family, that my mother dreamt that she had 
brought forth a judge. Whether this might proceed from a law- 
suit which was then depending in the family, or my father's being 
a justice of the peace, I cannot determine ; for I am not so vain 
as to think it presaged any dignity that I should arrive at in my 
future life, though that was the interpretation which the neigh- 
borhood put upon it. The gravity of my behavior at my very first 
appearance in the world seemed to favor my mother's dream: 
for, as she has often told me, I threw away my rattle before I 
was two months old, and would not make use of my coral till 
they had taken away the bells from it. 

As for the rest of my infancy, there being nothing in it re- 
markable, I shall pass it over in silence. I find that, during my 
nonage, I had the reputation of a very sullen youth, but was 
always a favorite of my schoolmaster, .who used to say, that my 
parts were solid, and would wear well. I had not been long at 
the university, before I distinguished myself by a most profound 
silence : for, during the space of eight years, excepting in the 
public exercises of the college, I scarce uttered the quantity of 
a hundred words; and indeed do not remember that I ever 
spoke three sentences together in my whole life. Whilst I was 
in this learned body, I applied myself with so much diligence to 
my studies, that there are very few celebrated books, either in 
the learned or the modern tongues, which I am not acquainted 
with. 

Upon the death of my father I was resolved to travel into for- 
eign countries, and therefore left the university, with the charac- 
ter of an odd unaccountable fellow, that had a great deal of 
learning, if I would but show it. An insatiable thirst after 

1 William, Duke of Normandy 1025-87, defeated King Harold at the 
battle of Hastings in 1066, and conquered England. 



ADDISON. 15 

knowledge carried me into all the countries of Europe, in which 
there was anything new or strange to be seen ; nay, to such a 
degree was my curiosity raised, that having read the controver- 
sies of some great men concerning the antiquities of Egypt, I 
made a voyage to Grand Cairo, 1 on purpose to take the meas- 
ure of a pyramid ; and, as soon as I had set myself right in that 
particular, returned to my native country with great satisfac- 
tion. 

I have passed my latter years in this city, where I am fre- 
quently seen in most public places, though there are not above 
half a dozen of my select friends that know me ; of whom my 
next paper shall give a more particular account. There is no 
place of general resort wherein I do not often make my appear- 
ance ; sometimes I am seen thrusting my head into a round of 
politicians at Will's, 2 and listening with great attention to the 
narratives that are made in those little circular audiences. Some- 
times I smoke a pipe at Child's; 2 and, while I seem attentive to 



1 This was probably a sarcasm on John Greaves, who published a book in 
1646 entitled Pyramidographia, or a Description of the Pyramids in Egypt. 

2 The coffee and chocolate houses of the time of Addison were the chief 
places of resort. One asked in those days, not where men lived, but which 
was their coffee-house. They served instead of newspapers, and were arenas 
for public discussion, while each had its political or literary following. They 
were much more powerful in their day than any club of to-day. WilVs Coffee 
House was at No. 1 Bow Street, Covent Garden, on the west side, corner of 
Russell Street, and was named from the original owner, William Urwin. 
Here the most intellectual men of the period gathered. In the Tatler it was 
made the center for poetry. Child's was located in St. Paul's Churchyard, 
where scientific people congregated particularly. St. James's was the last but 
one on the southwest corner of St. James Street, and was the headquarters 
for the Whigs during the reign of Queen Anne, and until the reign of George 
III. Addison, Steele, Swift, and later Goldsmith and Garrick, were among 
the distinguished frequenters of it. It is often mentioned in the Spectator. 
The Grecian was in Devereux Court, Strand. It was named after a Greek, 
Constantine, who originally kept it. It was the special resort of learned men 
and antiquarians. The Cocoa Tree was situated at 64 St. James Street. It 
once stood in Pall Mall. It was the Tory headquarters during Queen Anne's 



1 6 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

nothing but the " Postman," 1 overhear the conversation of every 
table in the room. I appear on Sunday nights at St. James's 
Coffee House, 2 and sometimes join the little committee of politics 
in the inner room, as one who comes there to hear and improve. 
My face is likewise very well known at the Grecian, 2 the Co- 
coa Tree, 2 and in the theaters both of Drury Lane 3 and the Hay- 
market. 4 I have been taken for a merchant upon the Exchange 
for above these ten years, and sometimes pass for a Jew in the 
assembly of stockjobbers at Jonathan's. 2 In short, wherever I 
see a cluster of people, I always mix with them, though I never 
open my lips but in my own club. 

Thus I live in the world, rather as a spectator of mankind, than 
as one of the species ; by which means I have made myself a 
speculative statesman, soldier, merchant, and artisan, without 
ever meddling with any practical part in life. I am very well 
versed in the theory of a husband or a father, and can discern 
the errors in the economy, business, and diversion of others, bet- 
ter than those who are engaged in them ; as standers-by discover 
blots, which are apt to escape those who are in the game. I 
never espoused any party with violence, and am resolved to ob- 
serve an exact neutrality between the Whigs and Tories, 5 unless 

time. During the Stuart rebellion, in 1745, it was frequented largely by 
Jacobites. Jonathan' 's was located on 'Change Alley, Cornhill, and was a 
resort of stockjobbers and moneyed men. 

1 The favorite newspaper of the time, published weekly by a French 
Protestant, M. Fonvive. 2 See Note 2, p. 15. 

3 Perhaps the most famous theater in London. It was situated in Drury 
Lane. No less than four different theaters have been built on the original 
site, — the first in 1662; the second in 1674, by Sir Christopher Wren; the 
third in 1794; the fourth in 1812. Many of the most famous plays and 
actors made their first appearance there. 

4 The Haymarket, another famous London theater, was situated in the 
Haymarket. It was known under different names ; such as, the " Queen's 
Theater," " King's," " Her Majesty's." It was first built and established by 
Sir John Vanbrugh in 1 703, and was burnt and rebuilt several times. The 
present structure dates from 1869. 

5 The Whigs composed one of the two leading political parties in England. 



ADDISON. 1 7 

I shall be forced to declare myself by the hostilities of either side. 
In short, I have acted in all the parts of my life as a looker-on, 
which is the character I intend to preserve in this paper. 

I have given the reader just so much of my history and char- 
acter, as to let him see I am not altogether unqualified for the 
business I have undertaken. As for other particulars in my life 
and adventures, I shall insert them in following papers, as I shall 
see occasion. In the mean time, when I consider how much I 
have seen, read, and heard, I begin to blame my own taciturnity ; 
and since I have neither time nor inclination to communicate the 
fullness of my heart in speech, I am resolved to do it in writing ; 
and to print myself out, if possible, before I die. I have been 
often told by my friends that it is pity so many useful discov- 
eries which I have made, should be in the possession of a silent 
man. For this reason therefore, I shall publish a sheet full of 
thoughts every morning, for the benefit of my contemporaries ; 
and if I can any way contribute to the diversion or improvement 
of the country in which I live, I shall leave it, when I am sum- 
moned out of it, with the secret satisfaction of thinking that I 
have not lived in vain. 

There are three very material points which I have not spoken 
to in this paper, and which, for several important reasons, I must 
keep to myself, at least for some time : I mean, an account of 
my name, my age, and my lodgings. I must confess I would 
gratify my reader in anything that is reasonable ; but as for these 
three particulars, though I am sensible they might tend very 
much to the embellishment of my paper, I cannot yet come to a 
resolution of communicating them to the public. They would 
indeed draw me out of that obscurity which I have enjoyed for 
many years, and expose me in public places to several salutes 

In the reign of Charles II. the name " Whig" was a term of reproach given 
by the court party to their antagonists for holding the principles of the 
" Whigs," or fanatical Covenanters in Scotland. The name of " Tory" was 
given to the court party founded in 1653. 



1 8 BE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

and civilities, which have been always very disagreeable to me ; 
for the greatest pain I can suffer, is' the being talked to, and 
being stared at. It is for this reason likewise, that I keep my 
complexion and dress, as very great secrets ; though it is not im- 
possible, but I may make discoveries of both in the progress of 
the work I have undertaken. 

After having been thus particular upon myself, I shall in to- 
morrow's paper give an account of those gentlemen who are 
concerned with me in this work. For, as I have before inti- 
mated, a plan of it is laid and concerted (as all other matters of 
importance are) in a club. However, as my friends have engaged 
me to stand in the front, those who have a mind to correspond 
with me, may direct their letters to the " Spectator," at Mr. Buck- 
ley's, 1 in Little Britain. For I must further acquaint the reader, 
that though our Club meets only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we 
have appointed a committee to sit every night, for the inspection 
of all such papers as may contribute to the advancement of the 
public weal. C. 



THE SPECTATOR CLUB. 

[Steele, in Spectator, No. 2. Friday, March 2, 1710-11.] 

" Ast alii sex 
Et p lures uno conclamant ore. " 2 

Juvenal, Sat. vii. 167. 

THE first of our society is a gentleman of Worcestershire, 3 of 
ancient descent, a baronet, his name Sir Roger de Cover- 
ley. His great-grandfather was inventor of that famous country- 
dance which is called after him. All who know that shire are very 

1 Samuel Buckley was the first publisher of the Spectator. His place was 
at the Dolphin, Little Britain Street. This street was for many years a 
center for the publishing trade. 

2 " Six more at least join their consenting voice." 

3 One of the principal western counties of England. 



STEELE. 19 

well acquainted with the parts and merits of Sir Roger. He is a 
gentleman that is very singular in his behavior, but his singulari- 
ties proceed from his good sense, and are contradictions to the 
manners of the world, only as he thinks the world is in the wrong. 
However, this humor creates him no enemies, for he does noth- 
ing with sourness or obstinacy ; and his being unconfined to 
modes and forms, makes him but the readier and more capable 
to please and oblige all who know him. When he is in town he 
lives in Soho Square : 1 it is said, he keeps himself a bachelor by 
reason he was crossed in love by a perverse beautiful widow of 
the next county to him. Before this disappointment, Sir Roger 
was what you call a fine gentleman, had often supped with my 
Lord Rochester and Sir George Etherege, 2 fought a duel upon 
his first coming to town, and kicked Bully Dawson 3 in a public 
coffee-house for calling him youngster. But being ill used by the 
above-mentioned widow, he was very serious for a year and a 
half ; and though his temper being naturally jovial, he at last got 
over it, he grew careless of himself and never dressed afterwards ; 
he continues to wear a coat and doublet of the same cut that were 
in fashion at the time of his repulse, which, in his merry humors, 
he tells us, has been in and out twelve times since he first wore 
it. He is now in his fifty-sixth year, cheerful, gay, and hearty, 
keeps a good house in both town and country ; a great lover of 
mankind ; but there is such a mirthful caste in his behavior, that 
he is rather beloved than esteemed. His tenants grow rich, his 
servants look satisfied, all the young women profess love to him, 
and the young men are glad of his company : when he comes 
into a house he calls the servants by their names, and talks all 

1 A square in London, on the south side of Oxford Street. Its name is 
derived from an old cry used in hunting, when the hare was found. Until 
about sixty years ago it was a center of fashion. It was built in 1681. 

2 Lord Rochester and Sir George Etherege were noted wits and writers 
during the reign of Charles II. 

3 Bully Dawson was a noted London sharper and swaggerer during the 
reign of Charles II. 



20 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

the way upstairs to a visit. I must not omit that Sir Roger is a 
justice of the quorum j 1 that he fills the chair at a quarter-session 
with great abilities, and three months ago, gained universal ap- 
plause by explaining a passage in the game-act. 

The gentleman next in esteem and authority among us, is 
another bachelor, who is a member of the Inner Temple ; 2 a 
man of great probity, wit, and understanding ; but he has chosen 
his place of residence rather to obey the direction of an old hu- 
morsome father, than in pursuit of his own inclinations. He was 
placed there to study the laws of the land, and is the most learned 
of any of the house in those of the stage. Aristotle and Longi- 
nus 3 are much better understood by him than Littleton or 
Cooke. 4 The father sends up every post questions relating to 
marriage-articles, leases, and tenures, in the neighborhood ; all 
which questions he agrees with an attorney to answer and take 
care of in the lump. He is studying the passions themselves, 
when he should be inquiring into the debates among men which 
arise from them. He knows the argument of each of the ora- 
tions of Demosthenes and Tully, 5 but not one case in the reports 
of our own courts. No one ever took him for a fool, but none, 
except his intimate friends, know he has a great deal of wit. This 
turn makes him at once both disinterested and agreeable : as few 

1 A distinction conferred upon certain justices of the peace in England, by 
directing that they must be among those holding quarter-sessions or the 
quarterly sessions of court in the county. 

2 One of the four societies of students and practicers of the law of Eng- 
land ; also the name of one of the buildings where law students and barristers 
have their chambers. Others are the Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn, and 
Gray's Inn. 

3 Aristotle and Longinus were celebrated Greek philosophers. Aristotle 
lived in the third century before, and Longinus in the third century after, 
Christ. 

4 Littleton and Cooke (more commonly written Coke or Cook) were noted 
English jurists and annotators of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries re- 
spectively. They were the great authorities on land tenures. 

5 Demosthenes (385-322 B.C.) was the greatest Greek orator; and Mar- 
cus Tullius (Tully) Cicero (106-43 B.C.), the greatest Roman orator. 



STEELE. 21 

of his thoughts are drawn from business, they are most of them 
fit for conversation. His taste of books is a little too just for the 
age he lives in ; he has read all, but approves of very few. His 
familiarity with the customs, manners, actions, and writings of the 
ancients, makes him a very delicate observer of what occurs to 
him in the present world. He is an excellent critic, and the time 
of the play is his hour of business; exactly at five he passes 
through New Inn, 1 crosses through Russell Court ; 2 and takes a 
turn at Will's till the play begins ; he has his shoes rubbed and 
his periwig powdered at the barber's as you go into the Rose. 3 
It is for the good of the audience when he is at a play, for the 
actors have an ambition to please him. 

The person of next consideration is Sir Andrew Freeport, a 
merchant of great eminence in the city of London : a person of 
indefatigable industry, strong reason, and great experience. His 
notions of trade are noble and generous, and (as every rich man 
has usually some sly way of jesting, which would make no great 
figure were he not a rich man) he calls the sea the British Com- 
mon. He is acquainted with commerce in all its parts, and will 
tell you that it is a stupid and barbarous way to extend dominion 
by arms ; for true power is to be got by arts and industry. He 
will often argue, that if this part of our trade were well culti- 
vated, we should gain from one nation ; and if another, from 
another. I have heard him prove that diligence makes more 
lasting acquisitions than valor, and that sloth has rained more na- 
tions than the sword. He abounds in several frugal maxims, 
amongst which the greatest favorite is, "A penny saved is a penny 
got." A general trader of good sense is pleasanter company than 
a general scholar ; and Sir Andrew having a natural unaffected 

1 A building where law students and barristers had their chambers. 

2 This was a narrow passage, for foot-passengers only, leading from Drury 
Lane into Catherine Street, Covent Garden. 

3 A noted tavern in London. It stood in Russell Street, Covent Garden, 
adjoining Drury Lane Theater. It was a famous resort during Queen Anne's 
reign. 



22 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

eloquence, the perspicuity of his discourse gives the same pleas- 
ure that wit would in another man. He has made his fortunes 
himself ; and says that England may be richer than other king- 
doms, by as plain methods as he himself is richer than other men ; 
though at the same time I can say this of him, that there is not a 
point in the compass, but blows home a ship in which he is an 
owner. 

Next to Sir Andrew in the club-room sits Captain Sentry, a 
gentleman of great courage, good understanding, but invincible 
modesty. He is one of those that deserve very well, but are very 
awkward at putting their talents within the observation of such 
as should take notice of them. He was some years a captain, 
and behaved himself with great gallantry in several engagements, 
and at several sieges ; but having a small estate of his own, and 
being next heir to Sir Roger, he has quitted a way of life in 
which no man can rise suitably to his merit, who is not some- 
thing of a courtier, as well as a soldier. I have heard him often 
lament, that in a profession where merit is placed in so conspicu- 
ous a view, impudence should get the better of modesty. When 
he has talked to this purpose, I never heard him make a sour 
expression, but frankly confess that he left the world, because he 
was not fit for it. A strict honesty and an even regular behav- 
ior, are in themselves obstacles to him that must press through 
crowds who endeavor at the same end with himself, the favor of 
a commander. He will, however, in this way of talk, excuse 
generals, for not disposing according to men's desert, or inquiring 
into it : for, says he, that great man who has a mind to help me, 
has as many to break through to come at me, as I have to come 
at him: therefore he will conclude, that the man who would 
make a figure, especially in a military way, must get over all false 
modesty, and assist his patron against the importunity of other 
pretenders, by a proper assurance in his own vindication. He 
says it is a civil cowardice to be backward in asserting what you 
ought to expect, as it is a military fear to be slow in attacking 
when it is your duty. With this candor does the gentleman speak 



STEELE. 23 

of himself and others. The same frankness runs through all his 
conversation. The military part of his life has furnished him 
with many adventures, in the relation of which he is very agree- 
able to the company ; for he is never overbearing, though accus- 
tomed to command men in the utmost degree below him ; nor 
ever too obsequious, from a habit of obeying men highly above 
him. 

But that our society may not appear a set of humorists unac- 
quainted with the gallantries and pleasures of the age, we have 
among us the gallant Will Honeycomb, a gentleman who, accord- 
ing to his years, should be in the decline of his life, but having 
ever been very careful of his person, and always had a very easy 
fortune, time has made but very little impression, either by wrin- 
kles on his forehead, or traces in his brain. His person is well 
turned, and of a good height. He is very ready at that sort of 
discourse with which men usually entertain women. He has all 
his life dressed very well, and remembers habits as others do men. 
He can smile when one speaks to him, and laughs easily. He 
knows the history of every mode, and can inform you from which 
of the French king's wenches our wives and daughters had this 
manner of curling their hair, that way of placing their hoods ; 
whose vanity to show her foot made the petticoat so short in such 
a year. In a word, all his conversation and knowledge has been 
in the female world : as other men of his age will take notice to 
you what such a minister said upon such and such an occasion, 
he will tell you when the Duke of Monmouth 1 danced at court 
such a woman was then smitten, another was taken with him at 
the head of his troop in the Park. In all these important rela- 
tions, he has ever about the same time received a kind glance, or 
a blow of a fan, from some celebrated beauty, mother of the 

1 James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, was a son of Charles II., and born in 
1649. He was also created Duke of Buccleuch. As heir to the throne, and 
an ardent Protestant, he invaded England in 1685, and gained a victory at 
Axminster. He was afterwards defeated by James II., at the battle of Sedge- 
moor, and executed July, 1685. 



24 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

present Lord Such-a-one. If you speak of a young Commoner 
that said a lively thing in the House, he starts up, " He has good 
blood in his veins, Tom Mirabell begot him, the rogue cheated 
me in that affair ; that young fellow's mother used me more like 
a dog than any woman I ever made advances to." This way of 
talking of his, very much enlivens the conversation among us of 
a more sedate turn ; and I find there is not one of the company 
but myself, who rarely speak at all, but speaks of him as of that 
sort of man, who is usually called a well-bred fine gentleman. 
To conclude his character, where women are not concerned, he 
is an honest worthy man. 

I cannot tell whether I am to account him whom I am next 
to speak of, as one of our company ; for he visits us but seldom, 
but when he does, it adds to every man else a new enjoyment of 
himself. He is a clergyman, a very philosophic man, of general 
learning, great sanctity of life, and the most exact good breeding. 
He has the misfortune to be of a very weak constitution, and 
consequently cannot accept of such cares and business as prefer- 
ments in his function would oblige him to : he is therefore among 
divines what a chamber-counselor is among lawyers. The prob- 
ity of his mind, and the integrity of his life, create him followers, 
as being eloquent or loud advances others. He seldom intro- 
duces the subject he speaks upon ; but we are so far gone in years, 
that he observes when he is among us, an earnestness to have 
him fall on some divine topic, which he always treats with much 
authority, as one who has no interests in this world, as one who 
is hastening to the object of all his wishes, and conceives hope 
from his decays and infirmities. These are my ordinary com- 
panions. R. 



STEELE. 25 

SIR ROGER ON MEN OF FINE PARTS. 

[Steele, in Spectator, No. 6. Wednesday, March 7, 1710-11.] 

" Credebant hoc grande nefas, et morte piandum, 
Sijuvenis vetulo non asstirrexerat." l 

Juvenal, Sat. xiii. 54. 

I KNOW no evil under the sun so great as the abuse of the 
understanding, and yet there is no one vice more common. 
It has diffused itself through both sexes, and all qualities of man- 
kind ; and there is hardly that person to be found, who is not 
more concerned for the reputation of wit and sense, than honesty 
and virtue. But this unhappy affectation of being wise rather 
than honest, witty than good-natured, is the source of most of 
the ill habits of life. Such false impressions are owing to the 
abandoned writings of men of wit, and the awkward imitation of 
the rest of mankind. 

For this reason, Sir Roger was saying last night, that he was 
of opinion that none but men of fine parts deserve to be hanged. 
The reflections of such men are so delicate upon all occurrences 
which they are concerned in, that they should be exposed to 
more than ordinary infamy and punishment, for offending against 
such quick admonitions as their own souls give them, and blunt- 
ing the fine edge of their minds in such a manner, that they are 
no more shocked at vice and folly, than men of slower capacities. 
There is no greater monster in being, than a very ill man of great 
parts : he lives like a man in a palsy, with one side of him dead. 
While perhaps he enjoys the satisfaction of luxury, of wealth, of 
ambition, he has lost the taste of good will, of friendship, of in- 
nocence. Scarecrow, the beggar in Lincoln's Inn Fields, 2 who 

1 Free translation : — 

" 'Twas impious then (so much was age revered) 
For youth to keep their seats when an old man appeared." 

2 This was once an open space for public meetings. It derived its name 
from Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who had a house erected there in the 



26 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

disabled himself in his right leg, and asks alms all day to get him- 
self a warm supper at night, is not half so despicable a wretch as 
such a man of sense. The beggar has no relish above sensations ; 
he finds rest more agreeable than motion ; and while he has a 
warm fire, never reflects that he deserves to be whipped. Every- 
man who terminates his satisfaction and enjoyments within the 
supply of his own necessities and passions, is, says Sir Roger, in 
my eye as poor a rogue as Scarecrow. "But," continued he, "for 
the loss of public and private virtue we are beholden to your men 
of parts forsooth ; it is with them no matter what is done, so it is 
done with an air. But to me who am so whimsical in a corrupt 
age as to act according to nature and reason, a selfish man in 
the most shining circumstance and equipage, appears in the same 
condition with the fellow above mentioned, but more contempti- 
ble in proportion to what more he robs the public of and enjoys 
above him. I lay it down therefore for a rule, that the whole 
man is to move together ; that every action of any importance is 
to have a prospect of public good ; and that the general ten- 
dency of our indifferent actions ought to be agreeable to the dic- 
tates of reason, of religion, of good breeding; without this, a 
man, as I have before hinted, is hopping instead of walking, he 
is not in his entire and proper motion." 

While the honest knight was thus bewildering himself in good 
starts, I looked intentively upon him, which made him I thought 
collect his mind a little. "What I aim at," says he, "is, to repre- 
sent, that I am of opinion, to polish our understandings and neg- 
lect our manners is of all things the most inexcusable. Reason 
should govern passion, but instead of that, you see, it is often 
subservient to it ; and, as unaccountable as one would think it, a 
wise man is not always a good man." This degeneracy is not 
only the guilt of particular persons, but also at some times of a 
whole people ; and perhaps it may appear upon examination, 
that the most polite ages are the least virtuous. This may be 

reign of Edward I. It became an inn of court in 13 10. The new build- 
ings were opened in 1845. It is one of the most beautiful courts of London. 



STEELE. 27 

attributed to the folly of admitting wit and learning as merit in 
themselves, without considering the application of them. By 
this means it becomes a rule not so much to regard what we do, 
as how we do it. But this false beauty will not pass upon men 
of honest minds and true taste. Sir Richard Blackmore 1 says, 
with as much good sense as virtue, " It is a mighty dishonor and 
shame to employ excellent faculties and abundance of wit, to hu- 
mor and please men in their vices and follies. The great enemy 
of mankind, notwithstanding his wit and angelic faculties, is the 
most odious being in the whole creation." He goes on soon af- 
ter to say very generously, that he undertook the writing of his 
poem " to rescue the Muses out of the hands of ravishers, to 
restore them to their sweet and chaste mansions, and to engage 
them in an employment suitable to their dignity." This certainly 
ought to be the purpose of every man who appears in public ; 
and whoever does not proceed upon that foundation, injures his 
country as fast as he succeeds in his studies. When modesty 
ceases to be the chief ornament of one sex, and integrity of the 
other, society is upon a wrong basis, and we shall be ever after 
without rules to guide our judgment in what is really becoming 
and ornamental. Nature and reason direct one thing, passion 
and humor another : to follow the dictates of the two latter, is 
going into a road that is both endless and intricate ; when we 
pursue the other, our passage is delightful, and what we aim at 
easily attainable. 

I do not doubt but England is at present as polite a nation as 
any in the world ; but any man who thinks can easily see, that 
the affectation of being gay and in fashion has very near eaten 
up our good sense and our religion. Is there anything so just, 
as that mode and gallantry should be built upon exerting our- 
selves in what is proper and agreeable to the institutions of just- 
ice and piety among us? And yet is there anything more com- 
mon, than that we run in perfect contradiction to them? All 

1 Sir Richard Blackmore (1650-1729) was an English writer and poet. 
His poem The Creation (1712) was much admired by Addison. 



28 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

which is supported by no other pretension, than that it is done 
with what we call a good grace. 

Nothing ought to be held laudable or becoming, but what nat- 
ure itself should prompt us to think so. Respect to all kind of 
superiors is founded methinks upon instinct ; and yet what is so 
ridiculous as age? I make this abrupt transition to the mention 
of this vice more than any other, in order to introduce a little 
story, which I think a pretty instance that the most polite age is 
in danger of being the most vicious. 

" It happened at Athens, during a public representation of 
some play exhibited in honor of the commonwealth that an old 
gentleman came too late for a place suitable to his age and qual- 
ity. Many of the young gentlemen who observed the difficulty 
and confusion he was in, made signs to him that they would 
accommodate him if he came where they sat: the good man 
bustled through the crowd accordingly ; but when he came to the 
seats to which he was invited, the jest was to sit close, and ex- 
pose him, as he stood out of countenance, to the whole audience. 
The frolic went round all the Athenian benches. But on those 
occasions there were also particular places assigned for for- 
eigners: when the good man skulked towards the boxes ap- 
pointed for the Lacedaemonians, 1 that honest people, more vir- 
tuous than polite, rose up all to a man, and with the greatest 
respect received him among them. The Athenians being sud- 
denly touched with a sense of the Spartan virtue, and their own 
degeneracy, gave a thunder of applause ; and the old man cried 
out, ' The Athenians understand what is good, but the Lacedae- 
monians practice it."' R. 

1 Lacedaemonians, or Spartans, were the people of a neighboring republic 
of Greece. They were brought up under a strict and peculiar code of laws, in- 
tended to inculcate, among other things, undaunted courage, fidelity to the 
state, and respect for the aged. 



ADDISON. 29 

SIR ROGER AT HOME. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 106. Monday, July 2, 1711.} 

" Hinc tibi copia 
Manabit ad plemim, benigno 
Ru7'is honomm opulenta cornii." x 

Horace, Lib. I., Ode xvii. 14. 

HAVING often received an invitation from my friend Sir 
Roger de Coverley to pass away a month with him in the 
country, I last week accompanied him thither, and am settled 
with him for some time at his country house, where I intend to 
form several of my ensuing speculations. Sir Roger, who is very 
well acquainted with my humor, lets me rise and go to bed when 
I please, dine at his own table or in my chamber as I think fit, 
sit still and say nothing without bidding me be merry. When the 
gentlemen of the country come to see him, he only shows me at 
a distance : as I have been walking in his fields I have observed 
them stealing a sight of me over a hedge, and have heard the 
knight desiring them not to let me see them, for that I hated to 
be stared at. 

I am the more at ease in Sir Roger's family, because it con- 
sists of sober and staid persons ; for as the knight is the best 
master in the world, he seldom changes his servants ; and as he 
is beloved by all about him, his servants never care for leaving 
him \ by this means his domestics are all in years, and grown old 
with their master. You would take his valet de chambre for his 
brother, his butler is gray-headed, his groom is one of the gravest 
men that I have ever seen, and his coachman has the looks of a 
privy counselor. You see the goodness of the master even in the 

1 Free translation : — 

" Here plenty's liberal horn shall pour 
Of fruits for thee a copious shower, 
Rich honors of the quiet plain." 



30 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

old house-dog, and in a gray pad that is kept in the stable with 
great care and tenderness out of regard to his past services, 
though he has been useless for several years. 

I could not but observe with a great deal of pleasure the joy 
that appeared in the countenances of these ancient domestics upon 
my friend's arrival at his country seat. Some of them could not 
refrain from tears at the sight of their old master ; every one of 
them pressed forward to do something for him, and seemed dis- 
couraged if they were not employed. At the same time the good 
old knight, with a mixture of the father and the master of the 
family, tempered the inquiries after his own affairs with several 
kind questions relating to themselves. This humanity and good 
nature engages everybody to him, so that when he is pleasant 
upon any of them, all his family are in good humor, and none so 
much as the person whom he diverts himself with : on the con- 
trary, if he coughs, or betrays any infirmity of old age, it is easy 
for a stander-by to observe a secret concern in the looks of all 
his servants. 

My worthy friend has put me under the particular care of his 
butler, who is a very prudent man, and, as well as the rest of his 
fellow-servants, wonderfully desirous of pleasing me, because they 
have often heard their master talk of me as of his particular 
friend. 

My chief companion, when Sir Roger is diverting himself in 
the woods or the fields, is a very venerable man who is ever with 
Sir Roger, and has lived at his house in the nature of a chaplain 
above thirty years. This gentleman is a person of good sense 
and some learning, of a very regular life and obliging conversa- 
tion: he heartily loves Sir Roger, and knows that he is very 
much in the old knight's esteem, so that he lives in the family 
rather as a relation than a dependant. 

I have observed in several of my papers, that my friend Sir 
Roger, amidst all his good qualities, is something of a humorist ; 
and that his virtues, as well as imperfections, are as it were 
tinged by a certain extravagance, which makes them particularly 



ADDISON. 31 

his, and distinguishes them from those of other men. This cast 
of mind, as it is generally very innocent in itself, so it renders his 
conversation highly agreeable, and more delightful than the same 
degree of sense and virtue would appear in their common and 
ordinary colors. As I was walking with him last night, he asked 
me how I liked the good man whom I have just now mentioned? 
and without staying for my answer told me, that he was afraid of 
being insulted with Latin and Greek at his own table ; for which 
reason he desired a particular friend of his at the university to find 
him out a clergyman rather of plain sense than much learning, of 
a good aspect, a clear voice, a sociable temper, and, if possible, 
a man that understood a little of backgammon. " My friend," 
says Sir Roger, " found me out this gentleman, who, besides 
the endowments required of him, is, they tell me, a good scholar, 
though he does not show it. I have given him the parsonage of 
the parish ; and because I know his value have settled upon him 
a good annuity for life. If he outlives me, he shall find that he 
was higher in my esteem than perhaps he thinks he is. He has 
now been with me thirty years ; and though he does not know I 
have taken notice of it, has never in all that time asked anything 
of me for himself, though he is every day soliciting me for some- 
thing in behalf of one or other of my tenants his parishioners. 
There has not been a lawsuit in the parish since he has lived 
among them : if any dispute arises they apply themselves to him 
for the decision ; if they do not acquiesce in his judgment, which 
I think never happened above once or twice at most, they appeal 
to me. At his first settling with me, I made him a present of all 
the good sermons which have been printed in English, and only 
begged of him that every Sunday he would pronounce one of 
them in the pulpit. Accordingly, he has digested them into such 
a series, that they follow one another naturally, and make a con- 
tinued system of practical divinity." 

As Sir Roger was going on in his story, the gentleman we were 
talking of came up to us ; and upon the knight's asking him who 
preached to-morrow (for it was Saturday night) told us, the Bishop 



32 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

of St. Asaph 1 in the morning, and Dr. South 2 in the afternoon. 
He then showed us his list of preachers for the whole year, where 
I saw with a great deal of pleasure Archbishop Tillotson, 2 Bishop 
Saunderson, 2 Dr. Barrow, 2 Dr. Calamy, 2 with several living authors 
who have published discourses of practical divinity. I no sooner 
saw this venerable man in the pulpit, but I very much approved 
of my friend's insisting upon the qualifications of a good aspect 
and a clear voice ; for I was so charmed with the gracefulness 
of his figure and delivery, as well as with the discourses he pro- 
nounced, that I think I never passed any time more to my satis- 
faction. A sermon repeated after this manner, is like the com- 
position of a poet in the mouth of a graceful actor. 

I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would 
follow this example ; and instead of wasting their spirits in labo- 
rious compositions of their own, would endeavor after a hand- 
some elocution, and all those other talents that are proper to en- 
force what has been penned by greater masters. This would not 
only be more easy to themselves, but more edifying to the people. 

L. 



SIR ROGER'S SERVANTS. 

[Steele, in Spectator, No. 107. Tuesday, July 3, iju.] 

" AZsopo ingentem statuam posuere Attici, 
Servumqjie collocarunt ceterna in basi, 
Patere honoris scirent ut cuncti viam." 3 

PHiEDRUS, Ep. i. 2. 

THE reception, manner of attendance, undisturbed freedom 
and quiet, which I meet with here in the country, has con- 
firmed me in the opinion I always had, that the general corrup- 

1 A bishopric of North Wales, founded by Kentigern, Bishop of Glasgow, 
about 560. William Fleetwood (1656-1723), afterwards Bishop of Ely, an 
eloquent preacher and writer, is here referred to. 

2 South, Tillotson, Saunderson, Barrow, and Calamy were all celebrated 
English divines of the seventeenth century. 

3 " The Athenians erected a large statue to JEsop, and placed him, though 



STEELE. ss 

tion of manners in servants is owing to the conduct of masters. 
The aspect of every one in the family carries so much satisfac- 
tion, that it appears he knows the happy lot which has befallen 
him in being a member of it. There is one particular which I 
have seldom seen but at Sir Roger's ; it is usual in all other 
places, that servants fly from the parts of the house through 
which their master is passing ; on the contrary, here they indus- 
triously place themselves in his way ; and it is on both sides, as 
it were, understood as a visit, when the servants appear without 
calling. This proceeds from the humane and equal temper of 
the man of the house, who also perfectly well knows how to en- 
joy a great estate, with such economy as ever to be much before- 
hand. This makes his own mind untroubled, and consequently 
unapt to vent peevish expressions, or give passionate or incon- 
sistent orders to those about him. Thus respect and love go 
together ; and a certain cheerfulness in performance of their duty 
is the particular distinction of the lower part of this family. When 
a servant is called before his master, he does not come with an 
expectation to hear himself rated for some trivial fault, threatened 
to be stripped, or used with any other unbecoming language, 
which mean masters often give to worthy servants; but it is 
often to know, what road he took that he came so readily back 
according to order ; whether he passed by such a ground, if the 
old man who rents it is in good health : or whether he gave Sir 
Roger's love to him, or the like. 

A man who preserves a respect, founded on his benevolence 
to his dependants, lives rather like a prince than a master in his 
family ; his orders are received as favors, rather than duties ; and 
the distinction of approaching him is part of the reward for exe- 
cuting what is commanded by him. 

There is another circumstance in which my friend excels in his 
management, which is the manner of rewarding his servants : he 
has ever been of opinion, that giving his cast clothes to be worn 

a slave, on a lasting pedestal, to show that the way to honor lies open in 
differently to all." 



34 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

by valets has a very ill effect upon little minds, and creates a silly 
sense of equality between the parties, in persons affected only 
with outward things. I have heard him often pleasant on this 
occasion, and describe a young gentleman abusing his man in 
that coat, which a month or two before was the most pleasing 
distinction he was conscious of in himself. He would turn his 
discourse still more pleasantly upon the ladies' bounties of this 
kind ; and I have heard him say he knew a fine woman, who 
distributed rewards and punishments in giving becoming or un- 
becoming dresses to her maids. 

But my good friend is above these little instances of good will, 
in bestowing only trifles on his servants ; a good servant to him 
is sure of having it in his choice very soon of being no servant 
at all. As I before observed, he is so good a husband, and 
knows so thoroughly that the skill of the purse is the cardinal 
virtue of this life ; I say, he knows so well that frugality is the 
support of generosity, that he can often spare a large fine when 
a tenement falls, 1 and give that settlement to a good servant who 
has a mind to go into the world, or make a stranger pay the fine 
to that servant, for his more comfortable maintenance, if he stays 
in his service. 

A man of honor and generosity considers, it would be misera- 
ble to himself to have no will but that of another, though it were 
of the best person breathing, and for that reason goes on as fast 
as he is able to put his servants into independent livelihoods. 
The greatest part of Sir Roger's estate is tenanted by persons 
who have served himself or his ancestors. It was to me ex- 
tremely pleasant to observe the visitants from several parts to 
welcome his arrival into the country : and all the difference that 
I could take notice of between the late servants who came to see 

1 In reference to this passage, the following quotation from Blackstone's 
Commentaries affords an adequate explanation : "A tenement falls, or alien- 
ates. A consequence of tenure by knight service was that of fines due the 
lord for every alienation, whenever the tenant had occasion to make over his 
land to another." 



STEELE. 35 

him, and those who staid in the family, was that these latter were 
looked upon as finer gentlemen and better courtiers. 

This manumission and placing them in a way of livelihood, I 
look upon as only what is due to a good servant, which encour- 
agement will make his successor be as diligent, as humble, and 
as ready as he was. There is something wonderful in the nar- 
rowness of those minds, which can be pleased, and be barren of 
bounty to those who please them. 

One might, on this occasion, recount the sense that great per- 
sons in all ages have had of the merit of their dependants, and 
the heroic services which men have done their masters in the ex- 
tremity of their fortunes ; and shown to their undone patrons, 
that fortune was all the difference between them ; but as I de- 
sign this my speculation only as a gentle admonition to thankless 
masters, I shall not go out of the occurrences of common life, but 
assert it as a general observation, that I never saw, but in Sir 
Roger's family, and one or two more, good servants treated as 
they ought to be. Sir Roger's kindness extends to their chil- 
dren's children, and this very morning he sent his coachman's 
grandson to prentice. 1 I shall conclude this paper with an ac- 
count of a picture in his gallery, where there are many which 
will deserve my future observation. 

At the very upper end of this handsome structure I saw the 
portraiture of two young men standing in a river, the one naked, 
the other in a livery. The person supported seemed half dead, 
but still so much alive as to show in his face exquisite joy and 
love towards the other. I thought the fainting figure resembled 
my friend Sir Roger ; and looking at the butler, who stood by 
me, for an account of it, he informed me that the person in the 
livery was a servant of Sir Roger's, who stood on the shore while 
his master was swimming, and observing him taken with some 
sudden illness, and sink under water, jumped in and saved him. 
He told me Sir Roger took off the dress he was in as soon as he 
came home, and by a great bounty at that time, followed by his 

1 An obsolete or colloquial form of " apprentice." 



36 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

favor ever since, had made him master of that pretty seat which 
we saw at a distance as we came to this house. I remembered 
indeed Sir Roger said there lived a very worthy gentleman, to 
whom he was highly obliged, without mentioning anything fur- 
ther. Upon my looking a little dissatisfied at some part of the 
picture my attendant informed me that it was against Sir Roger's 
will, and at the earnest request of the gentleman himself, that he 
was drawn in the habit in which he had saved his master. 

R. 



SIR ROGER AND WILL WIMBLE. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 108. Wednesday, July 4, 1711.] 

" Oralis anhelans, nuilta agendo nihil agens." 1 

Ph,edrus, Lib. II. Fab. v. 3. 

AS I was yesterday morning walking with Sir Roger before 
JT\. his house, a country fellow brought him a huge fish, which, 
he told him, Mr. William Wimble had caught that very morning ; 
and that he presented it, with his service to him, and intended 
to come and dine with him. At the same time he delivered a 
letter, which my friend read to me as soon as the messenger left 
him. 

Sir Roger, — I desire you to accept of a jack, which is the best I have 
caught this season. I intend to come and stay with you a week, and see 
how the perch bite in the Black River. I observed with some concern, the 
last time I saw you upon the bowling-green, that your whip wanted a lash to 
it ; I will bring half a dozen with me that I twisted last week, which I hope 
will serve you all the time you are in the country. I have not been out of 
the saddle for six days last past, having been at Eton 2 with Sir John's eldest 
son. He takes to his learning hugely. I am, sir, 

Your humble servant, 

WILL WIMBLE. 

1 " Out of breath to no purpose, and very busy about nothing." 

2 The most famous preparatory school in England, founded by Henry VI. 
in 1440, in Buckinghamshire. 



ADDISON. 37 

This extraordinary letter, and message that accompanied it, 
made me very curious to know the character and quality of the 
gentleman who sent them ; which I found to be as follows. Will 
Wimble is younger brother to a baronet, and descended of the 
ancient family of the Wimbles. He is now between forty and 
fifty ; but being bred to no business and born to no estate, he 
generally lives with his elder brother as superintendent of his 
game. He hunts a pack of dogs better than any man in the 
■ country, and is very famous for finding out a hare. He is ex- 
tremely well versed in all the little handicrafts of an idle man : 
he makes a May-fly 1 to a miracle; and furnishes the whole 
country with angle-rods. As he is a good-natured officious fel- 
low, and very much esteemed upon account of his family, he is 
a welcome guest at every house, and keeps up a good correspond- 
ence among all the gentlemen about him. He carries a tulip- 
root in his pocket from one to another, or exchanges a puppy 
between a couple of friends that live perhaps in the opposite sides 
of the county. Will is a particular favorite of all the young heirs, 
whom he frequently obliges with a net that he has weaved, or a 
setting-dog 2 that he has trained himself. These gentleman-like 
manufactures and obliging little humors, make Will the darling 
of the country. 

Sir Roger was proceeding in the character of him, when we saw 
him make up to us with two or three hazel-twigs in his hand that 
he had cut in Sir Roger's woods, as he came through them, in 
his way to the house. I was very much pleased to observe on 
one side the hearty and sincere welcome with which Sir Roger 
received him, and on the other, the secret joy which his guest dis- 
covered at sight of the good old knight. After the first salutes 
were over, Will desired Sir Roger to lend him one of his servants 
to carry a set of shuttlecocks he had with him in a little box to 
a lady that lived about a mile off, to whom it seems he had prom- 
ised such a present for above this half-year. Sir Roger's back 
was no sooner turned but honest Will began to tell me of a large 
1 A fishing-fly. 2 A setter-dog. 



38 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

cock-pheasant that he had sprung in one of the neighboring 
woods, with two or three other adventures of the same nature. 
Odd and uncommon characters are the game that I look for, and 
most delight in ; for which reason I was as much pleased with 
the novelty of the person that talked to me, as he could be for 
his life with the springing of a pheasant, and therefore listened 
to him with more than ordinary attention. 

In the midst of his discourse the bell rung to dinner, where the 
gentleman I have been speaking of ha^l the pleasure of seeing 
the huge jack, he had caught, served up for the first dish in a 
most sumptuous manner. Upon our sitting down to it he gave 
us a long account how he had hooked it, played with it, foiled it, 
and at length drew it out upon the bank, with several other par- 
ticulars that lasted all the first course. A dish of wild fowl that 
came afterwards furnished conversation for the rest of the dinner, 
which concluded with a late invention of Will's for improving 
the quail-pipe. 1 

Upon withdrawing into my room after dinner, I was secretly 
touched with compassion towards the honest gentleman that had 
dined with us ; and could not but consider with a great deal of 
concern, how so good a heart and such busy hands were wholly 
employed in trifles ; that so much humanity should be so little 
beneficial to others, and so much industry so little advantageous 
to himself. The same temper of mind and application to affairs 
might have recommended him to the public esteem, and have 
raised his fortune in another station of life. What good to his 
country or himself might not a trader or merchant have done 
with such useful though ordinary qualifications? 

Will Wimble's is the case of many a younger brother of a great 
family, who had rather see their children starve like gentlemen, 
than thrive in a trade or profession that is beneath their quality. 
This humor fills several parts of Europe with pride and beggary. 
It is the happiness of a trading nation, like ours, that the younger 
sons, though incapable of any liberal art or profession, may be 

1 A call, or pipe, for alluring quail to a net. 



STEELE. 39 

placed in such a way of life, as may perhaps enable them to vie 
with the best of their family : accordingly we find several citizens 
that were launched into the world with narrow fortunes, rising 
by an honest industry to greater estates than those of their elder 
brothers. It is not improbable but Will was formerly tried at di- 
vinity, law, or physic ; and that finding his genius did not lie that 
way, his parents gave him up at length to his own inventions. 
But certainly, however improper he might have been for studies 
of a higher nature, he was perfectly well turned for the occupa- 
tions of trade and commerce. As I think this is a point which 
cannot be too much inculcated, I shall desire my reader to com- 
pare what I have here written with what I have said in my 
twenty-first speculation. 1 L. 



SIR ROGER'S ANCESTORS. 

[Steele, in Spectator, No. log. Thursday, July 5, 1711.} 

"Abnormis sapiens." 2 

Horace, Lib. II. Sat. ii. 

I WAS this morning walking in the gallery, when Sir Roger 
entered at the end opposite to me, and advancing towards 
me, said, he was glad to meet me among his relations the De 
Coverleys, and hoped I liked the conversation of so much good 
company, who were as silent as myself. I knew he alluded to 
the pictures, and as he is a gentleman who does not a little value 
himself upon his ancient descent, I expected he would give me 
some account of them. We were now arrived at the upper end 

1 This refers to the twenty-first number of the Spectator, in which Addi- 
son writes of the three professions of divinity, law, and physic, and says that 
" they are each of them overburdened with practitioners, and filled with 
multitudes of ingenious gentlemen that starve one another." 

2 " Of plain good sense, untutored in the schools." 



40 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

of the gallery, when the knight faced towards one of the pictures, 
and as we stood before it, he entered into the matter, after his 
blunt way of saying things, as they occur to his imagination, 
without regular introduction, or care to preserve the appearance 
of chain of thought. 

" It is," said he, " worth while to consider the force of dress ; 
and how the persons of one age differ from those of another, 
merely by that only. One may observe also, that the general 
fashion of one age has been followed by one particular set of 
people in another, and by them preserved from one generation to 
another. Thus the vast jetting coat and small bonnet, which was 
the habit in Harry the Seventh's 1 time, is kept on in the yeomen 
of the guard ; not without a good and politic view, because they 
look a foot taller, and a foot and a half broader : besides that 
the cap leaves the face expanded, and consequently more terrible, 
and fitter to stand at the entrance of palaces. 

" This predecessor of ours, you see, is dressed after this man- 
ner, and his cheeks would be no larger than mine, were he in a 
hat as I am. He was the last man that won a prize in the Tilt- 
yard 2 (which is now a common street before Whitehall). You 
see the broken lance that lies there by his right foot ; he shivered 
that lance of his adversary all to pieces ; and bearing himself, 
look you, sir, in this manner, at the same time he came within the 
target of the gentleman who rode against him, and taking him 
with incredible force before him on the pommel of his saddle, he 
in that manner rid the tournament over, with an air that showed 
he did it rather to perform the rule of the lists, than expose his 

1 During the reign of Henry VII. (born, 1456; died, 1509), the first Eng- 
lish king of the Tudor dynasty, the discovery of America and the invention 
of printing took place. 

2 This was an open space at Whitehall, the king's palace from Henry 
VIII. to William III., over against the banqueting-house, and included part 
of the present Parade in St. James's Park, London. Henry VIII. held a 
famous tourney there on May Day, 1540. During the reign of James I. 
there was tilting there on March 24, Prince Charles distinguishing himself. 



STEELE. 41 

enemy ; however, it appeared he knew how to make use of a 
victory, and with a gentle trot he marched up to a gallery where 
their mistress sat (for they were rivals) and let him down with 
laudable courtesy and pardonable insolence. I don't know but 
it might be exactly where the coffee-house is now. 

" You are to know this my ancestor was not only of a military 
genius, but fit also for the arts of peace, for he played on the 
bass viol as well as any gentlemen at court ; you see where his 
viol hangs by his basket-hilt sword. The action at the Tilt-yard 
you may be sure won the fair lady, who was a maid of honor, 
and the greatest beauty of her time ; here she stands, the next 
picture. You see, sir, my great-great-great-grandmother has on 
the new-fashioned petticoat, except that the modern is gathered 
at the waist ; my grandmother appears as if she stood in a large 
drum, whereas the ladies now walk as if they were in a go-cart. 
For all this lady was bred at court, she became an excellent 
country wife, she brought ten children, and when I show you the 
library, you shall see in her own hand (allowing for the difference 
of the language) the best receipt now in England both for a 
hasty-pudding and a white-pot. 1 

" If you please to fall back a little, because 'tis necessary to 
look at the three next pictures at one view ; these are three sis- 
ters. She on the right hand, who is so very beautiful, died a 
maid ; the next to her, still handsomer, had the same fate, against 
her will ; this homely thing in the middle had both their portions 
added to her own, and was stolen by a neighboring gentleman, a 
man of stratagem and resolution, for he poisoned three mastiffs 
to come at her, and knocked down two deer-stealers in carrying 
her off. Misfortunes happen in all families : the theft of this 
romp and so much money, was no great matter to our estate. 
But the next heir that possessed it was this soft gentleman, whom 
you see there : observe the small buttons, the little boots, the 
laces, the slashes about his clothes, and above all the posture he 
is drawn in, (which to be sure was his own choosing;) you see 

1 A kind of custard. 



42 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

he sits with one hand on a desk writing, and looking as it were 
another way, like an easy writer, or a sonneteer : he was one of 
those that had too much wit to know how to live in the world ; 
he was a man of no justice, but great good manners ; he ruined 
everybody that had anything to do with him, but never said a 
rude thing in his life ; the most indolent person in the world, he 
would sign a deed that passed away half his estate with his 
gloves on, but would not put on his hat before a lady if it were 
to save his country. He is said to be the first that made love 
by squeezing the hand. He left the estate with ten thousand 
pounds debt upon it, but however by all hands I have been in- 
formed that he was every way the finest gentleman in the world. 
That debt lay heavy on our house for one generation, but it was 
retrieved by a gift from that honest man you see there, a citizen 
of our name, but nothing at all akin to us. I know Sir Andrew 
Freeport has said behind my back, that this man was descended 
from one of the ten children of the maid of honor I showed you 
above ; but it was never made out. We winked at the thing 
indeed, because money was wanting at that time." 

Here I saw my friend a little embarrassed, and turned my face 
to the next portraiture. 

Sir Roger went on with his account of the gallery in the fol- 
lowing manner. " This man (pointing to him I looked at) I take 
to be the honor of our house. Sir Hurqphrey de Coverley ; he 
was in his dealings as punctual as a tradesman, and as generous 
as a gentleman. He would have thought himself as much un- 
done by breaking his word, as if it were to be followed by bank- 
ruptcy. He served his country as knight of this shire 1 to his 
dying day. He found it no easy matter to maintain an integrity 
in his words and actions, even in things that regarded the offices 
which were incumbent upon him, in the care of his own affairs 
and relations of life, and therefore dreaded (though he had great 
talents) to go into employments of state, where he must be ex- 

1 A knight of the shire was a knight chosen by the freeholders of a county 
to represent them in Parliament. 



ADDISON. 43 

posed to the snares of ambition. Innocence of life and great 
ability were the distinguishing parts of his character ; the latter, 
he had often observed, had led to the destruction of the former, 
and used frequently to lament that great and good had not the 
same signification. He was an excellent husbandman, but had 
resolved not to exceed such a degree of wealth ; all above it he 
bestowed in secret bounties many years after the sum he aimed at 
for his own use was attained. Yet he did not slacken his industry, 
but to a decent old age spent the life and fortune which was su- 
perfluous to himself, in the service of his friends and neighbors." 
Here we were called to dinner, and Sir Roger ended the dis- 
course of this gentleman, by telling me, as we followed the servant, 
that this his ancestor was a brave man, and narrowly escaped 
being killed in the civil wars; "for," said he, "he was sent out 
of the field upon a private message, the day before the battle of 
Worcester." The whim of narrowly escaping by having been 
within a day of danger, with other matters above mentioned, 
mixed with good sense, left me at a loss whether I was more 
delighted with my friend's wisdom or simplicity. R. 



NIGHT FEARS AT COVERLEY. 

[Add/son, in Spectator, No. iio. Friday, July 6, 1711.} 

"Horror ubique animos, simul ipsa silentia terrent." l 

Virgil, iEneid, Lib. II. 755. 

AT a little distance from Sir Roger's house, among the ruins 
JTjL of an old abbey, there is a long walk of aged elms ; which 
are shot up so very high, that when one passes under them, the 
rooks and crows that rest upon the tops of them seem to be caw- 
ing in another region. I am very much delighted with this sort 

1 Dryden's translation : — 

"All things are full of horror and affright, 
And dreadful ev'n the silence of the night." 



44 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

of noise, which I consider as a kind of natural prayer to that 
Being who supplies the wants of his whole creation, and who, in 
the beautiful language of the Psalms, feedeth the young ravens 
that call upon him. I like this retirement the better, because of 
an ill report it lies under of being haunted ; for which reason (as 
I have been told in the family) no living creature ever walks in 
it besides the chaplain. My good friend the butler desired me 
wath a very grave face not to venture myself in it after sunset, 
for that one of the footmen had been almost frighted out of his 
wits by a spirit that appeared to him in the shape of a black 
horse without a head ; to which he added, that about a month 
ago one of the maids coming home late that way with a pail of 
milk upon her head, heard such a rustling among the bushes that 
she let it fall. 

I was taking a walk in this place last night between the hours 
of nine and ten, and could not but fancy it one of the most 
proper scenes in the world for a ghost to appear in. The ruins 
of the abbey are scattered up and down on every side, and half 
covered with ivy and elder-bushes, the harbors of several solitary 
birds which seldom make their appearance till the dusk of the 
evening. The place was formerly a churchyard, and has still 
several marks in it of graves and burying-places. There is such 
an echo among the old ruins and vaults, that if you stamp but a 
little louder than ordinary, you hear the sound repeated. At the 
same time the walk of elms, with the croaking of the ravens 
which from time to time are heard from the tops of them, looks 
exceeding solemn and venerable. These objects naturally raise 
seriousness and attention ; and when night heightens the awful- 
ness of the place, and pours out her supernumerary horrors upon 
everything in it, I do not at all wonder that weak minds fill it 
with specters and apparitions. 

Mr. Locke, 1 in his chapter of the Association of Ideas, has 

1 John Locke (1632-1704) was a celebrated English philosopher, and 
author of many works, the most famous being the Essay on the Human 
Understanding. 



ADDISON. 45 

very curious remarks to show how by the prejudice of education 
one idea often introduces into the mind a whole set that bear no 
resemblance to one another in the nature of things. Among sev- 
eral examples of this kind, he produces the following instance. 
" The ideas of goblins and sprites have really no more to do with 
darkness than light : yet let but a foolish maid inculcate these 
often on the mind of a child, and raise them there together, pos- 
sibly he shall never be able to separate them again so long as he 
lives ; but darkness shall ever afterwards bring with it those 
frightful ideas, and they shall be so joined, that he can no more 
bear the one than the other." 

As I was walking in this solitude, where the dusk of the even- 
ing conspired with so many other occasions of terror, I observed 
a cow grazing not far from me, which an imagination that is apt 
to startle might easily have construed into a black horse without 
a head : and I dare say the poor footman lost his wits upon some 
such trivial occasion. 

My friend Sir Roger has often told me with a great deal of 
mirth, that at his first coming to his estate he found three parts 
of his house altogether useless ; that the best room in it had the 
reputation of being haunted, and by that means was locked up ; 
that noises had been heard in his long gallery, so that he could 
not get a servant to enter it after eight o'clock at night ; that the 
door of one of his chambers was nailed up, because there went a 
story in the family that a butler had formerly hanged himself in 
ft ; and that his mother, who lived to a great age, had shut up 
half the rooms in the house, in which either her husband, a son, 
or daughter had died. The knight seeing his habitation reduced 
to so small a compass, and himself in a manner shut out of his 
own house, upon the death of his mother ordered all the apart- 
ments to be flung open, and exorcised by his chaplain, who lay 
in every room one after another, and by that means dissipated 
the fears which had so long reigned in the family. 

I should not have been thus particular upon these ridiculous 
horrors, did I not find them so very much prevail in all parts of 



46 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

the country. At the same time I think a person who is thus ter- 
rified with the imagination of ghosts and specters much more 
reasonable than one who, contrary to the reports of all historians 
sacred and profane, ancient and modern, and to the traditions of 
all nations, thinks the appearance of spirits fabulous and ground- 
less : could not I give myself up to this general testimony of man- 
kind, I should to the relations of particular persons who are now 
living, and whom I cannot distrust in other matters of fact. I 
might here add, that not only the historians, to whom we may 
join the poets, but likewise the philosophers of antiquity have 
favored this opinion. Lucretius himself, though by the course 
of his philosophy he was obliged to maintain that the soul did 
not exist separate from the body, makes no doubt of the reality 
of apparitions, and that men have often appeared after their 
death. This I think very remarkable ; he was so pressed with 
the matter of fact which he could not have the confidence to 
deny, that he was forced to account for it by one of the most 
absurd unphilosophical notions that was ever started. He tells 
us, that the surfaces of all bodies are perpetually flying off from 
their respective bodies, one after another ; and that these surfaces 
or thin cases that included each other whilst they were joined in 
the body like the coats of an onion, are sometimes seen entire when 
they are separated from it ; by which means we often behold the 
shapes and shadows of persons who are either dead or absent. 

I shall dismiss this paper with a story out of Josephus, 1 not so 
much for the sake of the story itself as for the moral reflections 
with which the author concludes it, and which I shall here set 
down in his own words. " Glaphyra the daughter of King 
Archelaus, after the death of her two first husbands (being mar- 
ried to a third, who was brother to her first husband, and so pas- 
sionately in love with her that he turned off his former wife to 

l Flavius Josephus (born at Jerusalem, A.D. 37; date of death unknown) 
was the most celebrated of Jewish historians. His chief works were, His- 
tory of the Jewish War, in seven books ; and Antiquities of the Jews, in 
twenty books. 



ADDISON. 47 

make room for this marriage) had a very odd kind of dream. 
She fancied that she saw her first husband coming towards her, 
and that she embraced him with great tenderness ; when in the 
midst of the pleasure which she expressed at the sight of him, 
he reproached her after the following manner : ' Glaphyra,' says 
he, ' thou hast made good the old saying, that women are not to 
be trusted. Was not I the husband of thy virginity? Have I 
not children by thee? How couldst thou forget our loves so far 
as to enter into a second marriage, and after that into a third, 
nay to take for thy husband a man who has so shamelessly crept 
into the bed of his brother? However, for the sake of our past 
loves, I shall free thee from thy present reproach, and make thee 
mine forever.' Glaphyra told this dream to several women of 
her acquaintance, and died soon after." I thought this story 
might not be impertinent in this place, wherein I speak of those 
kings : besides that, the example deserves to be taken notice of 
as it contains a most certain proof of the immortality of the soul, 
and of Divine Providence. If any man thinks these facts in- 
credible, let him enjoy his own opinion to himself, but let him 
not endeavor to disturb the belief of others, who by instances of 
this nature are excited to the study of virtue. L. 



A SUNDAY WITH SIR ROGER. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 112. Monday, July g, 1711.] 



Adavdrovg fj.ev Trptira dsovc, vo/lkj ug didneirai. 

Pythagoras. 



Ti/za."! 



I AM always very well pleased with a country Sunday ; and 
think, if keeping holy the seventh day were only a human 
institution, it would be the best method that could have been 

1 Free translation : — 

" First, in obedience to thy country's rites, 
Worship th' immortal gods." 



48 BE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

thought of for the polishing and civilizing of mankind. It is 
certain the country people would soon degenerate into a kind of 
savages and barbarians, were there not such frequent returns of 
a stated time, in which the whole village meet together with their 
best faces, and in their cleanliest habits, to converse with one 
another upon indifferent subjects, hear their duties explained to 
them, and join together in adoration of the Supreme Being. 
Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week, not only as it 
refreshes in their minds the notions of religion, but as it puts 
both the sexes upon appearing in their most agreeable forms, 
and exerting all such qualities as are apt to give them a figure in 
the eye of the village. A country fellow distinguishes himself as 
much in the churchyard, as a citizen does upon the Change, the 
whole parish politics being generally discussed in that place either 
after sermon or before the bell rings. 

My friend Sir Roger, being a good churchman, has beautified 
the inside of his church with several texts of his own choosing : 
he has likewise given a handsome pulpit-cloth, and railed in the 
communion-table at his own expense. He has often told me, 
that at his coming to his estate he found his parishioners very 
irregular; and that in order to make them kneel and join in the 
responses, he gave every one of them a hassock and a Common 
Prayer Book : and at the same time employed an itinerant sing- 
ing-master, who goes about the country for that purpose, to in- 
struct them rightly in the tunes of the Psalms ; upon which they 
now very much value themselves, and indeed outdo most of the 
country churches that I have ever heard. 

As Sir Roger is landlord to the whole congregation, he keeps 
them in very good order, and will suffer nobody to sleep in it be- 
sides himself ; for if by chance he has been surprised into a short 
nap at sermon, upon recovering out of it he stands up and looks 
about him, and if he sees anybody else nodding, either wakes 
them himself, or sends his servant to them. Several other of the 
old knight's particularities break out upon these occasions : some- 
times he will be lengthening out a verse in the singing Psalms, 



ADDISON. 49 

half a minute after the rest of the congregation have done with 
it ; sometimes, when he is pleased with the matter of his devo- 
tion, he pronounces "Amen " three or four times to the same 
prayer ; and sometimes stands up when everybody else is upon 
their knees, to count the congregation, or see if any of his tenants 
are missing. 

I was yesterday very much surprised to hear my old friend, in 
the midst of the service, calling out to one John Matthews to 
mind what he was about, and not disturb the congregation. 
This John Matthews it seems is remarkable for being an idle 
fellow, and at that time was kicking his heels for his diversion. 
This authority of the knight, though exerted in that odd manner 
which accompanies him in all circumstances of life, has a very 
good effect upon the parish, who are not polite enough to see 
anything ridiculous in his behavior; besides that the general 
good sense and worthiness of his character makes his friends 
observe these little singularities as foils that rather set off than 
blemish his good qualities. 

As soon as the sermon is finished, nobody presumes to stir till 
Sir Roger is gone out of the church. The knight walks down 
from his seat in the chancel between a double row of his tenants, 
that stand bowing to him on each side ; and every now and then 
inquires how such a one's wife, or mother, or son, or father do, 
whom he does not see at church ; which is understood as a 
secret reprimand to the person that is absent. 

The chaplain has often told me, that upon a catechising day, 
when Sir Roger has been pleased with a boy that answers well, 
he has ordered a Bible to be given him next day for his encour- 
agement ; and sometimes accompanies it with a flitch of bacon 
to his mother. Sir Roger has likewise added five pounds a year 
to the clerk's place ; and that he may encourage the young fel- 
lows to make themselves perfect in the church service, has prom- 
ised upon the death of the present incumbent, who is very old, 
to bestow it according to merit. 

The fair understanding between Sir Roger and his chaplain, 



50 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

and their mutual concurrence in doing good, is the more re- 
markable, because the very next village is famous for the differ- 
ences and contentions that rise between the parson and the 
squire, who live in a perpetual state of war. The parson is al- 
ways preaching at the squire, and the squire to be revenged on 
the parson never comes to church. The squire has made all his 
tenants atheists and tithe-stealers ; while the parson instructs 
them every Sunday in the dignity of his order, and insinuates to 
them in almost every sermon, that he is a better man than his 
patron. In short, matters are come to such an extremity, that 
the squire has not said his prayers either in public or private this 
half year; and that the parson threatens him, if he does not 
mend his manners, to pray for him in the face of the whole 
congregation. 

Feuds of this nature, though too frequent in the country, are 
very fatal to the ordinary people ; who are so used to be dazzled 
with riches, that they pay as much deference to the understand- 
ing of a man of an estate, as of a man of learning ; and are very 
hardly brought to regard any truth, how important soever it may 
be, that is preached to them, when they know there are several 
men of five hundred a year who do not believe it. L. 



SIR ROGER IN LOVE. 

[Steele, in Spectator, No. iij. Tuesday, July 10, rjix."\ 

" ' Hcerent infixi pec tore vultus." 1 

Virgil, /Eneid, Lib. IV. 4. 

IN my first description of the company in which I pass most 
of my time, it may be remembered that I mentioned a great 
affliction which my friend Sir Roger had met with in his youth ; 
which was no less than a disappointment in love. It happened 

1 " Her looks were deep imprinted in his heart." 



STEELE. 5 1 

this evening, that we fell into a very pleasing walk at a distance 
from his house : as soon as we came into it, " It is," quoth the 
good old man, looking round him with a smile, "very hard, that 
any part of my land should be settled upon one who has used 
me so ill as the perverse widow did ; and yet I am sure I could 
not see a sprig of any bough of this whole walk of trees, but I 
should reflect upon her and her severity. She has certainly the 
finest hand of any woman in the world. You are to know this 
was the place wherein I used to muse upon her ; and by that 
custom I can never come into it, but the same tender sentiments 
revive in my mind, as if I had actually walked with that beautiful 
creature under these shades. I have been fool enough to carve 
her name on the bark of several of these trees ; so unhappy is 
the condition of men in love, to attempt the removing of their 
passion by the methods which serve only to imprint it deeper. 
She has certainly the finest hand of any woman in the world." 

Here followed a profound silence ; and I was not displeased 
to observe my friend falling so naturally into a discourse, which 
I had ever before taken notice he industriously avoided. After 
a very long pause he entered upon an account of this great cir- 
cumstance in his life, with an air which I thought raised my idea 
of him above what I had ever had before ; and gave me the 
picture of that cheerful mind of his, before it received that stroke 
which has ever since affected his words and actions. But he 
went on as follows. 

" I came to my estate in my twenty-second year, and resolved 
to follow the steps of the most worthy of my ancestors who have 
inhabited this spot of earth before me, in all the methods of 
hospitality and good neighborhood, for the sake of my fame ; 
and in country sports and recreations, for the sake of my health. 
In my twenty-third year I was obliged to serve as sheriff of the 
county; and in my servants, officers and whole equipage, in- 
dulged the pleasure of a young man (who did not think ill of his 
own person) in taking that public occasion of showing my figure 
and behavior to advantage. You may easily imagine to yourself 



52 DE CO FEEZE Y PAPERS. 

what appearance I made, who am pretty tall, rid well, and was 
very well dressed, at the head of a whole county, with music be- 
fore me, a feather in my hat, and my horse well bitted. I can 
assure you I was not a little pleased with the kind looks and 
glances I had from all the balconies and windows as I rode to 
the hall where the assizes 1 were held. But when I came there, 
a beautiful creature in a widow's habit sat in court to hear the 
event of a cause concerning her dower. This commanding crea- 
ture (who was born for destruction of all who behold her) put on 
such a resignation in her countenance, and bore the whispers of 
all around the court with such a pretty uneasiness, I warrant you, 
and then recovered herself from one eye to another, till she was 
perfectly confused by meeting something so wistful in all she en- 
countered, that at last, with a murrain to her, she cast her be- 
witching eye upon me. I no sooner met it, but I bowed like a 
great surprised booby ; and knowing her cause to be the first 
which came on, I cried, like a captivated calf as I was, ' Make 
way for the defendant's witnesses.' This sudden partiality made 
all the county immediately see the sheriff also was become a 
slave to the fine widow. During the time her cause was upon 
trial, she behaved herself, I warrant you, with such a deep atten- 
tion to her business, took opportunities to have little billets 
handed to her counsel, then would be in such a pretty confusion, 
occasioned, you must know, by acting before so much company, 
that not only I but the whole court was prejudiced in her favor ; 
and all that the next heir to her husband had to urge, was 
thought so groundless and frivolous, that when it came to her 
counsel to reply, there was not half so much said as every one 
besides in the court thought he could have urged to her advan- 
tage. You must understand, sir, this perverse woman is one of 
those unaccountable creatures, that secretly rejoice in the admira- 
tion of men, but indulge themselves in no further consequences. 
Hence it is that she has ever had a train of admirers, and she 

1 The periodical sessions of the judges of the superior courts in every 
county in England, for the trial of cases, and the administration of justice. 



STEELE. 53 

removes from her slaves in town to those in the country, accord- 
ing to the seasons of the year. She is a reading lady, and far 
gone in the pleasures of friendship ; she is always accompanied 
by a confidante, who is witness to her daily protestations against 
our sex, and consequently a bar to her first steps towards love, 
upon the strength of her own maxims and declarations. 

" However, I must needs say this accomplished mistress of 
mine has distinguished me above the rest, and has been known 
to declare Sir Roger de Coverley was the tamest and most human 
of all the brutes in the country. I was told she said so, by one 
who thought he rallied me ; but upon the strength of this slender 
encouragement, of being thought least detestable, I made new 
liveries, new-paired my coach horses, sent them all to town to be 
bitted, and taught to throw their legs well, and move all together, 
before I pretended to cross the country and wait upon her. As 
soon as I thought my retinue suitable to the character of my 
fortune and youth, I set out from hence to make my addresses. 
The particular skill of this lady has ever been to inflame your 
wishes, and yet command respect. To make her mistress of this 
art, she has a greater share of knowledge, wit, and good sense, 
than is usual even among men of merit. Then she is beautiful 
beyond the race of women. If you won't let her go on with 
a certain artifice with her eyes, and the skill of beauty, she will 
arm herself with her real charms, and strike you with admiration 
instead of desire. It is certain that if you were to behold the 
whole woman, there is that dignity in her aspect, that composure 
in her motion, that complacency in her manner, that if her form 
makes you hope, her merit makes you fear. But then again, 
she is such a desperate scholar, that no country gentleman can 
approach her without being a jest. As I was going to tell you, 
when I came to her house I was admitted to her presence with 
great civility ; at the same time she placed herself to be first seen 
by me in such an attitude, as I think you call the posture of 
a picture, that she discovered new charms, and I at last came 
towards her with such an awe as made me speechless. This she 



54 E>E COVERLEY PAPERS. 

no sooner observed but she made her advantage of it, and began 
a discourse to me concerning love and honor, as they both are 
followed by pretenders, and the real votaries to them. When she 
had discussed these points in a discourse, which I verily believe 
was as learned as the best philosopher in Europe could possibly 
make, she asked me whether she was so happy as to fall in with 
my sentiments on these important particulars. Her confidante 
sat by her, and upon my being in the last confusion and silence, 
this malicious aid of hers, turning to her, says, ' I am very glad 
to observe Sir Roger pauses upon this subject, and seems re- 
solved to deliver all his sentiments upon the matter when he 
pleases to speak.' They both kept their countenances, and after 
I had sat half an hour meditating how to behave before such 
profound casuists, I rose up and took my leave. Chance has since 
that time thrown me very often in her way, and she as often 
has directed a discourse to me which I do not understand. This 
barbarity has kept me ever at a distance from the most beautiful 
object my eyes ever beheld. It is thus also she deals with all 
mankind, and you must make love to her, as you would conquer 
the Sphinx, 1 by posing her. But were she like other women, and 
that there were any talking to her, how constant must the pleas- 
ure of that man be, who could converse with a creature — But, 
after all, you may be sure her heart is fixed on some one or 
other. They say she sings excellently : her voice in her ordinary 
speech has something in it inexpressibly sweet. You must know 
I dined with her at a public table the day after I first saw her, 
and she helped me to some tansy 2 in the eye of all the gentle- 



1 In Egyptian art, an image of granite or p6rphyry, having a human head, 
or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion ; in 
Grecian art, of similar design. The most famous Grecian Sphinx, that of 
Thebes in Bceotia, is said to have proposed a riddle to the Thebans, and 
killed those who were unable to guess it. The enigma was solved by CEdi- 
pus, whereupon the Sphinx slew herself. 

2 A dish common in the seventeenth century, made of eggs, sugar, rose- 
water, cream, and the juice of herbs, baked with butter in a shallow dish. 



STEELE. 55 

men in the country: she has certainly the finest hand of any 
woman in the world. I can assure you, sir, were you to behold 
her, you would be in the same condition ; for as her speech is 
music, her form is angelic. But I find I grow irregular while I 
am talking of her : but indeed it would be stupidity to be uncon- 
cerned at such perfection. Oh the excellent creature, she is as 
inimitable to all women, as she is inaccessible to all men." 

I found my friend begin to rave, and insensibly led him 
towards the house, that we might be joined by some other com- 
pany ; and am convinced that the widow is the secret cause of 
all that inconsistency which appears in some parts of my friend's 
discourse ; though he has so much command of himself as not 
directly to mention her, yet according to that of Martial, 1 which 
one knows not how to render in English, "Dum facet hanc loquitur. 
I shall end this paper with that whole epigram, which represents 
with much humor my honest friend's condition. 

" Quicquid agit Rufus nihil est nisi Nsevia Rufo, 
Si gaudet, si flet, si tacet, hanc loquitur : 
Coenat, propinat, poscit, negat, annuit, una est 

Nsevia; si non sit Nsevia mutus erit. 
Scriberet hesterna patri cum luce salutem, 
Nsevia lux, inquit, Nsevia lumen, ave." 2 

Lib. I. Ep. 69, i. 

R. 

1 A famous Latin epigrammatic poet, who was born in Spain about A. D. 
40, but spent most of his life in Rome. He was a friend of Juvenal, Quin- 
tilian, and the Younger Pliny. He wrote epigrams chiefly, of which fourteen 
books are extant. 

2 Free translation : — 

"Let Rufus weep, rejoice, stand, sit, or walk, 
Still he can nothing but of Nsevia talk ; 
Let him eat, drink, ask questions, or dispute, 
Still he must speak of Naevia, or be mute. 
He writ to his father, ending with this line, 
I am, my lovely Naevia, ever thine." 



56 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 



SIR ROGER'S ECONOMY. 

[Steele, in Spectator, No. 114. Wednesday, July 11 iyn.] 

" Paupertatis pudor etfug-a." l 

Horace, Lib. I. Ep. xviii. 24. 

ECONOMY in our affairs has the same effect upon our for- 
tunes which good breeding has upon our conversations. 
There is a pretending behavior in both cases, which, instead of 
making men esteemed, renders them both miserable and con- 
temptible. We had yesterday at Sir Roger's a set of country 
gentlemen who dined with him ; and after dinner the glass was 
taken by those who pleased, pretty plentifully. Among others I 
observed a person of a tolerable good aspect, who seemed to be 
more greedy of liquor than any of the company, and yet, me- 
thought, he did not taste it with delight. As he grew warm, he 
was suspicious of everything that was said ; and as he advanced 
towards being fuddled, his humor grew worse. At the same 
time his bitterness seemed to be rather an inward dissatisfaction 
in his own mind, than any dislike he had taken at the company. 
Upon hearing his name, I knew him to be a gentleman of a con- 
siderable fortune in this county, but greatly in debt. What gives 
the unhappy man this peevishness of spirit is, that his estate is 
dipped, 2 and is eating out with usury ; and yet he has not the 
heart to sell any part of it. His proud stomach, at the cost of 
restless nights, constant inquietudes, danger of affronts, and a 
thousand nameless inconveniences, preserves this canker in his 
fortune, rather than it shall be said he is a man of fewer hundreds 
a year than he has been commonly reputed. Thus he endures 

1 Pooly's translation : — 

" The dread of nothing more 
Than to be thought necessitous and poor," 

2 Mortgaged. 



STEELE. 57 

the torment of poverty, to avoid the name of being less rich. If 
you go to his house you see great plenty ; but served in a man- 
ner that shows it is all unnatural, and that the master's mind is 
not at home. There is a certain waste and carelessness in the 
air of everything, and the whole appears but a covered indigence, 
a magnificent poverty. That neatness and cheerfulness, which 
attends the table of him who lives within compass, is wanting, 
and exchanged for a libertine way of service in all about him. 

This gentleman's conduct, though a very common way of man- 
agement, is as ridiculous as that officer's would be, who had 
but few men under his command, and should take the charge of 
an extent of country rather than of a small pass. To pay for, 
personate, and keep in a man's hands, a greater estate than he 
really has, is of all others the most unpardonable vanity, and 
must in the end reduce the man who is guilty of it to dishonor. 
Yet if we look round us in any county of Great Britain, we shall 
see many in this fatal error ; if that may be called by so soft a 
name, which proceeds from a false shame of appearing what they 
really are, when the contrary behavior would in a short time 
advance them to the condition which they pretend to. 

Laertes has fifteen hundred pounds a year; which is mort- 
gaged for six thousand pounds ; but it is impossible to convince 
him that if he sold as much as would pay off that debt, he would 
save four shillings in the pound, which he gives for the vanity of 
being the reputed master of it. Yet if Laertes did this, he would, 
perhaps, be easier in his own fortune ; but then Irus, a fellow of 
yesterday, who has but twelve hundred a year, would be his 
equal. Rather than this shall be, Laertes goes on to bring well- 
born beggars into the world, and every twelvemonth charges his 
estate with at least one year's rent more by the birth of a child. 

Laertes and Irus are neighbors, whose way of living are an 
abomination to each other. Irus is moved by the fear of 
poverty, and Laertes by the shame of it. Though the motive 
of action is of so near affinity in both, and may be resolved into 
this, " that to each of them poverty is the greatest of all evils," 



58 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

yet are their manners very widely different. Shame of poverty 
makes Laertes launch into unnecessary equipage, vain expense, 
and lavish entertainments ; fear of poverty makes Irus allow 
himself only plain necessaries, appear without a servant, sell his 
own corn, attend his laborers, and be himself a laborer. Shame 
of poverty makes Laertes go every day a step nearer to it ; and 
fear of poverty stirs up Irus to make every day some further 
progress from it. 

These different motives produce the excesses which men are 
guilty of in the negligence of and provision for themselves. 
Usury, stockjobbing, extortion and oppression, have their seed 
in the dread of want ; and vanity, riot and prodigality, from the 
shame of it: but both these excesses are infinitely below the 
pursuit of a reasonable creature. After we have taken care to 
command so much as is necessary for maintaining ourselves in 
the order of men suitable to our character, the care of superflui- 
ties is a vice no less extravagant, than the neglect of necessaries 
would have been before. 

Certain it is that they are both out of Nature when she is fol- 
lowed with reason and good sense. It is from this reflection 
that I always read Mr. Cowley 1 with the greatest pleasure: his 
magnanimity is as much above that of other considerable men as 
his understanding; and it is a true distinguishing spirit in the 
elegant author who published his works, to dwell so much upon 
the temper of his mind and the moderation of his desires : by 
this means he has rendered his friend as amiable as famous. 
That state of life which bears the face of poverty with Mr. 
Cowley's "great vulgar," 2 is admirably described; and it is no 
small satisfaction to those of the same turn of desire, that he 
produces the authority of the wisest men of the best age of the 

1 Abraham Cowley (1618-67) was a celebrated English poet. His prose 
essays are considered models of fine English. 

2 This expression occurs in Cowley's Paraphrase of Horace, Ode iii. 1 : — 

" Hence, ye profane, I hate ye all, 
Both the great vulgar and the small." 



STEELE. 59 

world, to strengthen his opinion of the ordinary pursuits of 
mankind. 

It would methinks be no ill maxim of life, if according to 
that ancestor of Sir Roger, whom I lately mentioned, every man 
would point to himself what sum he would resolve not to exceed. 
He might by this means cheat himself into a tranquillity on this 
side of that expectation, or convert what he should get above it 
to* nobler uses than his own pleasures or necessities. This temper 
of mind would exempt a man from an ignorant envy of restless 
men above him, and a more inexcusable contempt of happy men 
below him. This would be sailing by some compass, living with 
some design ; but to be eternally bewildered in prospects of 
future gain, and putting on unnecessary armor against improbable 
blows of fortune, is a mechanic being which has not good sense 
for its direction, but is carried on by a sort of acquired instinct 
towards things below our consideration and unworthy our esteem. 
It is possible that the tranquillity I now enjoy at Sir Roger's may 
have created in me this way of thinking, which is so abstracted 
from the common relish of the world : but as I am now in a 
pleasing arbor surrounded with a beautiful landscape, I find no 
inclination so strong as to continue in these mansions, so remote 
from the ostentatious scenes of life ; and am at this present writ- 
ing philosopher enough to conclude with Mr. Cowley ; 

" If e'er ambition did my fancy cheat, 
With any wish so mean as to be great ; 
Continue, Heav'n, still from me to remove 
The humble blessings of that life I love." 

T. 



60 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

BODILY EXERCISE. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 115. Thursday, July 12, 1711.} 

" Ut sit mens sana in corpore sano. " * 

Juvenal, Sat. x. 356. 

BODILY labor is of two kinds, either that which a man sub- 
mits to for his livelihood, or that which he undergoes for 
his pleasure. The latter of them generally changes the name of 
labor for that of exercise, but differs only from ordinary labor as 
it rises from another motive. 

A country life abounds in both these kinds of labor, and for 
that reason gives a man a greater stock of health, and conse- 
quently a more perfect enjoyment of himself, than any other way 
of life. I consider the body as a system of tubes and glands, or 
to use a more rustic phrase, a bundle of pipes and strainers, fitted 
to one another after so wonderful a manner as to make a proper 
engine for the soul to work with. This description does not only 
comprehend the bowels, bones, tendons, veins, nerves and arte- 
ries, but every muscle and every ligature, which is a composition 
of fibers, that are so many imperceptible tubes or pipes interwoven 
on all sides with invisible glands or strainers. 

This general idea of a human body, without considering it in 
its niceties of anatomy, lets us see how absolutely necessary labor 
is for the right preservation of it. There must be frequent mo- 
tions and agitations, to mix, digest, and separate the juices con- 
tained in it, as well as to clear and cleanse that infinitude of pipes 
and strainers of which it is composed, and to give their solid parts 
a more firm and lasting tone. Labor or exercise ferments the 
humors, casts them into their proper channels, throws off redun- 
dancies, and helps Nature in those secret distributions, without 
which the body cannot subsist in its vigor, nor the soul act with 
cheerfulness. 

1 " Pray for a sound mind in a sound body." 



ADDISON. 6 1 

I might here mention the effects which this has upon all the 
faculties of the mind, by keeping the understanding clear, the 
imagination untroubled, and refining those spirits that are neces- 
sary for the proper exertion of our intellectual faculties, during 
the present laws of union between soul and body. It is to a 
neglect in this particular that we must ascribe the spleen, which 
is so frequent in men of studious and sedentary tempers, as well 
as the vapors to which those of the other sex are so often subject. 

Had not exercise been absolutely necessary for our well-being, 
Nature would not have made the body so proper for it, by giving 
such an activity to the limbs, and such a pliancy to every part 
as necessarily produce those compressions, extensions, contortions, 
dilatations, and all other kinds of motions that are necessary for 
the preservation of such a system of tubes and glands as has been 
before mentioned. And that we might not want inducements to 
engage us in such an exercise of the body as is proper for its 
welfare, it is so ordered that nothing valuable can be procured 
without it. Not to mention riches and honor, even food and rai- 
ment are not to be come at without the toil of the hands and 
sweat of the brows. Providence furnishes materials, but expects 
that we should work them up ourselves. The earth must be 
labored before it gives its increase, and when it is forced into 
its several products, how many hands must they pass through 
before they are fit for use? Manufactures, trade, and agriculture, 
naturally employ more than nineteen parts of the species in 
twenty ; and as for those who are not obliged to labor, by the 
condition in which they are born, they are more miserable than 
the rest of mankind, unless they indulge themselves in that volun- 
tary labor which goes by the name of exercise. 

My friend Sir Roger has been an indefatigable man in busi- 
ness of this kind, and has hung several parts of his house with 
the trophies of his former labors. The walls of his great hall are 
covered with the horns of several kinds of deer that he has killed 
in the chase, which he thinks the most valuable furniture of his 
house, as they afford him frequent topics of discourse, and show 



62 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

that he has not been idle. At the lower end of the hall, is a 
large otter's skin stuffed with hay, which his mother ordered to 
be hung up in that manner, and the knight looks upon with 
great satisfaction, because it seems he was but nine years old 
when his dog killed him. A little room adjoining to the hall is a 
kind of arsenal filled with guns of several sizes and inventions, 
with which the knight has made great havoc in the woods, and 
destroyed many thousands of pheasants, partridges and wood- 
.cocks. His stable doors are patched with noses that belonged 
to foxes of the knight's own hunting down. Sir Roger showed 
me one of them that for distinction sake has a brass nail struck 
through it, which cost him about fifteen hours' riding, carried him 
through half a dozen counties, killed him a brace of geldings, 
and lost above half his dogs. This the knight looks upon as one 
of the greatest exploits of his life. The perverse widow, whom 
I have given some account of, was the death of several foxes ; 
for Sir Roger has told me that in the course of his amours he 
patched the western door of his stable. Whenever the widow 
was cruel, the foxes were sure to pay for it. In proportion as 
his passion for the widow abated and old age came on, he left 
off fox-hunting ; but a hare is not yet safe that sits within ten 
miles of his house. 

There is no kind of exercise which I would so recommend to 
my readers of both sexes as this of riding, as there is none which 
so much conduces to health, and is every way accommodated to 
the body, according to the idea which I have given of it. Dr. 
Sydenham 1 is very lavish in its praises ; and if the English reader 
will see the mechanical effects of it described at length, he may 
find them in a book published not many years since, under the 
title of " Medicina Gymnastica." 2 For my own part, when I am in 

1 Thomas Sydenham (1624-89) was a celebrated English physician. He 
wrote many valuable medical treatises. 

2 Medicina Gymnastica (Bodily Exercise as a Medicine). Published in 
1704. Written by Francis Fuller, a Nonconformist clergyman, who died in 
1701. By some the book is credited to Thomas Fuller, M.D. 



ADDISON. 63 

town, for want of these opportunities, I exercise myself an hour 
every morning upon a dumb-bell that is placed in a corner of my 
room, and pleases me the more because it does everything I re- 
quire of it in the most profound silence. My landlady and her 
daughters are so well acquainted with my hours of exercise, 
that they never come into my room to disturb me whilst I am 
ringing. 

When I was some years younger than I am at present, I used 
to employ myself in a more laborious diversion, which I learned 
from a Latin treatise of exercises that is written with great erudi- 
tion : it is there called the OKiofiaxia, or the fighting with a man's 
own shadow, and consists in the brandishing of two short sticks 
grasped in each hand, and loaden with plugs of lead at either 
end. This opens the chest, exercises the limbs, and gives a man 
all the pleasure of boxing, without the blows. I could wish that 
several learned men would lay out that time which they employ 
in controversies and disputes about nothing, in this method of 
fighting with their own shadows. It might conduce very much 
to evaporate the spleen, which makes them uneasy to the public 
as well as to themselves. 

To conclude, as I am a compound of soul and body, I consider 
myself as obliged to a double scheme of duties ; and I think I 
have not fulfilled the business of the day when I do not thus em- 
ploy the one in labor and exercise, as well as the other in study 
and contemplation. L. 



64 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

SIR ROGER AND THE CHASE. 

[Budgell, in Spectator, No. 116. Friday, July ij, 171 1.\ 

" Vocat ingenti clamore Cithceron, 
Taygetiqtie canes." l 

Virgil, Georgics, iii. 

THOSE who have searched into human nature observe that 
nothing so much shows the nobleness of the soul, as that 
its felicity consists in action. Every man has such an active 
principle in him, that he will find out something to employ him- 
self upon in whatever place or state of life he is posted. I have 
heard of a gentleman who was under close confinement in the 
Bastile seven years ; during which time he amused himself in 
scattering a few small pins about his chamber, gathering them 
up again, and placing them in different figures on the arm of a 
great chair. He often told his friends afterwards, that unless he 
had found out this piece of exercise, he verily believed he should 
have lost his senses. 

After what has been said, I need not inform my readers, that 
Sir Roger, with whose character I hope they are at present pretty 
well acquainted, has in his youth gone through the whole course 
of those rural diversions which the country abounds in ; and 
which seem to be extremely well suited to that laborious industry 
a man may observe here in a far greater degree than in towns 
and cities. I have before hinted at some of my friend's exploits : 
he has in his youthful days taken forty coveys of partridges in a 
season ; and tired many a salmon with a line consisting but of a 
single hair. The constant thanks and good wishes of the neigh- 
borhood always attended him, on account of his remarkable en- 
mity towards foxes ; having destroyed more of those vermin in 
one year, than it was thought the whole country could have pro- 

1 " The echoing hills and chiding hounds invite." 



BUDGELL. 65 

duced. Indeed the knight does not scruple to own among his 
most intimate friends that in order to establish his reputation this 
way, he has secretly sent for great numbers of them out of other 
counties, which he used to turn loose about the country by night, 
that he might the better signalize himself in their destruction the 
next day. His hunting horses were the finest and best managed 
in all these parts : his tenants are still full of the praises of a gray 
stone-horse that unhappily staked himself several years since, and 
was buried with great solemnity in the orchard. 

Sir Roger, being at present too old for fox-hunting, to keep 
himself in action, has disposed of his beagles and got a pack of 
stop-hounds. 1 What these want in speed, he endeavors to make 
amends for by the deepness of their mouths and the variety of 
their notes, which are suited in such manner to each other, that 
the whole cry makes up a complete consort. He is so nice in 
this particular that a gentleman having made him a present of 
a very fine hound the other day, the knight returned it by the 
servant with a great many expressions of civility ; but desired him 
to tell his master, that the dog he had sent was indeed a most 
excellent bass, but that at present he only wanted a counter- 
tenor. Could I believe my friend had ever read Shakespeare, I 
should certainly conclude he had taken the hint from Theseus in 
the " Midsummer Night's Dream." 

" My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind; 
So flew'd, so sanded ; and their heads are hung 
With ears that sweep away the morning dew ; 
Crook-kneed, and dew-lapp'd like Thessalian bulls ; 
Slow in pursuit, but match'd in mouth like bells, 
Each under each. A cry more tunable 
Was never halloo'd to, nor cheer'd with horn." 

Act iv. sc. 1. 

Sir Roger is so keen at this sport, that he has been out almost 
every day since I came down ; and upon the chaplain's offering 

1 A beagle is a small hound used for hunting hares ; a stop-hound, a dog 
trained to hunt slowly, stopping at the huntsman's signal. 



66 BE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

to lend me his easy pad, I was prevailed on yesterday morning 
to make one of the company. I was extremely pleased, as we 
rid 1 along, to observe the general benevolence of all the neigh- 
borhood towards my friend. The farmers' sons thought them- 
selves happy if they could open a gate for the good old knight 
as he passed by ; which he generally requited with a nod or a 
smile, and a kind inquiry after their fathers and uncles. 

After we had rid about a mile from home, we came upon a 
large heath, and the sportsmen began to beat. They had done 
so for some time, when, as I was at a little distance from the rest 
of the company, I saw a hare pop out from a small furze-brake 
almost under my horse's feet. I marked the way she took, which 
I endeavored to make the company sensible of by extending my 
arm ; but to no purpose, till Sir Roger, who knows that none of 
my extraordinary motions are insignificant, rode up to me, and 
asked me if puss was gone that way? Upon my answering 
" Yes," he immediately called in the dogs, and put them upon the 
scent. As they were going off, I heard one of the country fel- 
lows muttering to his companion, that it was a wonder they had 
not lost all their sport, for want of the silent gentleman's crying 
" Stole away." 

This, with my aversion to leaping hedges, made me withdraw 
to a rising ground, from whence I could have the picture of the 
whole chase, without the fatigue of keeping in with the hounds. 
The hare immediately threw them above a mile behind her ; but 
I was pleased to find, that instead of running straight forwards, 
or in hunter's language, "flying the country," as I was afraid 
she might have done, she wheeled about, and described a sort of 
circle round the hill where I had taken my station, in such man- 
ner as gave me a very distinct view of the sport. I could see 
her first pass by, and the dogs some time afterwards unraveling 
the whole track she had made, and following her through all her 
doubles. I was at the same time delighted in observing that 
deference which the rest of the pack paid to each particular 
1 The old form of the past tense of the verb " to ride." 



BUDGELL. 67 

hound, according to the character he had acquired amongst 
them: if they were at fault, and an old hound of reputation 
opened but once, he was immediately followed by the whole cry ; 
while a raw dog or one who was a noted liar, might have yelped 
his heart out, without being taken notice of. 

The hare now, after having squatted two or three times, and 
been put up again as often, came still nearer to the place where 
she was at first started. The dogs pursued her, and these were 
followed by the jolly knight, who rode upon a white gelding, 
encompassed by his tenants and servants, and cheering his 
hounds with all the gayety of five and twenty. One of the 
sportsmen rode up to me, and told me, that he was sure the chase 
was almost at an end, because the old dogs, which had hitherto 
lain behind, now headed the pack. The fellow was in the right. 
Our hare took a large field just under us, followed by the full 
cry in view. I must confess the brightness of the weather, the 
cheerfulness of everything around me, the chiding of the hounds, 
which was returned upon us in a double echo, from two neigh- 
boring hills, with the hallooing of the sportsmen, and the sound- 
ing of the horn, lifted my spirits into a most lively pleasure, which 
I freely indulged because I was sure it was innocent. If I was 
under any concern, it was on the account of the poor hare, that 
was now quite spent, and almost within the reach of her enemies ; 
when the huntsman getting forward threw down his pole before 
the dogs. They were now within eight yards of that game which 
they had been pursuing for almost as many hours ; yet on the 
signal before mentioned they all made a sudden stand, and 
though they continued opening as much as before, durst not once 
attempt to pass beyond the pole. At the same time Sir Roger 
rode forward, and alighting, took up the hare in his arms ; which 
he soon delivered up to one of his servants with an order, if she 
could be kept alive, to let her go in his great orchard ; where it 
seems he has several of these prisoners of war, who live together 
in a very comfortable captivity. I was highly pleased to see the 
discipline of the pack, and the good nature of the knight, who 



68 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

could not find in his heart to murder a creature that had given 
him so much diversion. 

As we were returning home, I remembered that Monsieur 
Paschal 1 in his most excellent discourse on the misery of man, 
tells us, that all our endeavors after greatness proceed from noth- 
ing but a desire of being surrounded by a multitude of persons 
and affairs that may hinder us from looking into ourselves, which 
is a view we cannot bear. He afterwards goes on to show that 
our love of sports comes from the same reason, and is particularly 
severe upon hunting. "What," says he, "unless it be to drown 
thought, can make men throw away so much time and pains 
upon a silly animal, which they might buy cheaper in the market? " 
The foregoing reflection is certainly just, when a man suffers his 
whole mind to be drawn into his sports, and altogether loses him- 
self in the woods ; but does not affect those who propose a far 
more laudable end from this exercise, I mean, the preservation of 
health, and keeping all the organs of the soul in a condition to 
execute her orders. Had that incomparable person, whom I 
last quoted, been a little more indulgent to himself in this point, 
the world might probably have enjoyed him much longer; 
whereas through too great an application to his studies in his 
youth, he contracted that ill habit of body, which, after a tedious 
sickness, carried him off in the fortieth year of his age ; and the 
whole history we have of his life till that time, is but one con- 
tinued account of the behavior of a noble soul struggling under 
innumerable pains and distempers. 

For my own part I intend to hunt twice a week during my stay 
with Sir Roger; and shall prescribe the moderate use of this 
exercise to all my country friends, as the best kind of physic for 
mending a bad constitution, and preserving a good one. 

I cannot do this better, than in the following lines out of Mr. 
Dryden. 2 

1 Blaise Paschal (1623-62) was a noted French philosopher and mathe- 
matician. His best-known works are Thoughts, and Provincial Letters. 

2 John Dryden (1 631-1700) was an eminent English poet and dramatist. 
Besides writing many plays, he translated Virgil and Juvenal. 



ADDISON. 69 

; The first physicians by debauch were made ; 
Excess began, and Sloth sustains the trade. 
By chase our long-liv'd fathers earn'd their food ; 
Toil strung the nerves, and purified the blood ; 
But we their sons, a pamper'd race of men, 
Are dwindled down to threescore years and ten. 
Better to hunt in fields for health unbought, 
Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught. 
The wise for cure on exercise depend : 
God never made his work for man to mend." 



MOLL WHITE, 1 THE WITCH. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 117. Saturday, July 14, lyu."] 

" Ipsi sibi somnia fingunt. " 2 

Virgil, Eclogues, viii. 108. 

THERE are some opinions in which a man should stand 
neuter, without engaging his assent to one side or the other. 
Such a hovering faith as this, which refuses to settle upon any 
determination, is absolutely necessary to a mind that is careful 
to avoid errors and prepossessions. When the arguments press 
equally on both sides in matters that are indifferent to us, the 
safest method is to give up ourselves to neither. 

It is with this temper of mind that I consider the subject of 
witchcraft. When I hear the relations that are made from all 
parts of the world, not only from Norway and Lapland, from 
the East and West Indies, but from every particular nation in 
Europe, I cannot forbear thinking that there is such an inter- 
course and commerce with evil spirits, as that which we express 
by the name of witchcraft. But when I consider that the igno- 

1 This character represents the belief in witchcraft current in England in. 
the seventeenth century. 

2 " With voluntary dreams they cheat their minds." 



70 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

rant and credulous parts of the world abound most in these rela- 
tions, and that the persons among us, who are supposed to engage 
in such an infernal commerce, are people of a weak under- 
standing -and a crazed imagination, and at the same time reflect 
upon the many impostures and delusions of this nature that have 
been detected in all ages, I endeavor to suspend my belief till 
I hear more certain accounts than any which have yet come to 
my knowledge. In short, when I consider the question, whether 
there are such persons in the world as those we call witches, my 
mind is divided between the two opposite opinions ; or rather (to 
speak my thoughts freely) I believe in general that there is, and 
has been such a thing as witchcraft ; but at the same time can 
give no credit to any particular instance of it. 

I am engaged in this speculation, by some occurrences that I 
met with yesterday, which I shall give my reader an account of 
at large. As I was walking with my friend Sir Roger by the 
side of one of his woods, an old woman applied herself to me for 
my charity. Her dress and figure put me in mind of the follow- 
ing description in Otway. 1 

"Ina close lane as I pursu'd my journey, 
I spy'd a wrinkled hag, with age grown double, 
Picking dry sticks, and mumbling to herself. 
Her eyes with scalding rheum were gall'd and red, 
Cold palsy shook her head ; her hands seem'd wither'd ; 
And on her crooked shoulders had she wrapp'd 
The tatter'd remnants of an old striped hanging, 
Which served to keep her carcass from the cold : 
So there was nothing of a piece about her. 
Her lower weeds were all o'er coarsely patch'd 
With diff'rent-color'd rags, black, red, white, yellow, 
And seem'd to speak variety of wretchedness." 

As I was musing on this description, and comparing it with 
the object before me, the knight told me, that this very old 
woman had the reputation of a witch all over the country, that 

1 Thomas Otway (1651-85) was a well-known English dramatist. 



ADDISON. 7 1 

her lips were observed to be always in motion, and that there 
was not a switch about her house which her neighbors did not 
believe had carried her several hundreds of miles. If she chanced 
to stumble, they always found sticks or straws that lay in the 
figure of a cross before her. If she made any mistake at church, 
and cried "Amen " in a wrong place, they never failed to con- 
clude that she was saying her prayers backwards. There was not 
a maid in the parish that would take a pin of her, though she 
would offer a bag of money with it. She goes by the name of 
Moll White, and has made the country ring with several imagi- 
nary exploits which are palmed upon her. If the dairy-maid does 
not make her butter come so soon as she should have it, Moll 
White is at the bottom of the churn. If a horse sweats in the 
stable, Moll White has been upon his back. If a hare makes an 
unexpected escape from the hounds, the huntsman curses Moll 
White. Nay, (says Sir Roger) I have known the master of the 
pack, upon such an occasion, send one of his servants to see if 
Moll White had been out that morning. 

This account raised my curiosity so far, that I begged my 
friend Sir Roger to go with me into her hovel, which stood in a 
solitary corner under the side of the wood. Upon our first en- 
tering Sir Roger winked to me, and pointed at something that 
stood behind the door, which, upon looking that way, I found to 
be an old broom-staff. At the same time he whispered me in 
the ear to take notice of a tabby cat that sat in the chimney- 
corner, which, as the old knight told me, lay under as bad a 
report as Moll White herself ; for besides that Moll is said often 
to accompany her in the same shape, the cat is reported to have 
spoken twice or thrice in her life, and to have played several 
pranks above the capacity of an ordinary cat. 

I was secretly concerned to see human nature in so much 
wretchedness and disgrace, but at the same time could not for- 
bear smiling to hear Sir Roger, who is a little puzzled about the 
old woman, advising her as a justice of peace to avoid all com- 
munication with the Devil, and never to hurt any of her neigh- 



72 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

bors' cattle. We concluded our visit with a bounty, which was 
very acceptable. 

In our return home, Sir Roger told me, that old Moll had been 
often brought before him for making children spit pins, and giv- 
ing maids the nightmare ; and that the country people would be 
tossing her into a pond and trying experiments with her every day, 
if it was not for him and his chaplain. 

I have since found upon inquiry, that Sir Roger was several 
times staggered with the reports that had been brought him con- 
cerning this old woman, and would frequently have bound her 
over to the county sessions, had not his chaplain with much ado 
persuaded him to the contrary. 

I have been the more particular in this account, because I hear 
there is scarce a village in England that has not a Moll White 
in it. When an old woman begins to dote, and grow chargeable 
to a parish, she is generally turned into a witch, and fills the 
whole country with extravagant fancies, imaginary distempers 
and terrifying dreams. In the mean time, the poor wretch that 
is the innocent occasion of so many evils begins to be frighted 
at herself, and sometimes confesses secret commerce and familiar- 
ities that her imagination forms in a delirious old age. This fre- 
quently cuts off charity from the greatest objects of compassion, 
and inspires people with a malevolence towards those poor de- 
crepit parts of our species, in whom human nature is defaced by 
infirmity and dotage. L. 



STEELE. 73 

LOVE-MAKING AT COVERLEY. 

[Steele, in Spectator, No. 118. Monday, July 16, 1711.] 

" Hceret lateri lethalis aricndo." 1 

Virgil, jEneid, Lib. IV. 73. 

THIS agreeable seat is surrounded with so many pleasing 
walks, which are struck out of a wood, in the midst of 
which the house stands, that one can hardly ever be weary of 
rambling from one labyrinth of delight to another. To one used 
to live in a city the charms of the country are so exquisite, that 
the mind is lost in a certain transport which raises us above 
ordinary life, and is yet not strong enough to be inconsistent with 
tranquillity. This state of mind was I in, ravished with the mur- 
mur of waters, the whisper of breezes, the singing of birds ; and 
whether I looked up to the heavens, down on the earth, or turned 
to the prospects around me, still struck with new sense of 
pleasure ; when I found by the voice of my friend, who walked 
by me, that we had insensibly strolled into the grove sacred to 
the widow. " This woman," says he, " is of all others the most 
unintelligible : she either designs to marry, or she does not. 
What is the most perplexing of all, is, that she doth not either 
say to her lovers she has any resolution against that condition of 
life in general, or that she banishes them ; but conscious of her 
own merit, she permits their addresses, without fear of any ill 
consequence, or want of respect, from their rage or despair. She 
has that in her aspect, against which it is impossible to offend. 
A man whose thoughts are constantly bent upon so agreeable an 
object, must be excused if the ordinary occurrences in conversa- 
tion are below his attention. I call her indeed perverse, but, 
alas! why do I call her so? Because her superior merit is such, 

1 Dryden's translation : — 

"The fatal dart 
Sticks in his side, and rankles in his heart." 



74 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

that I cannot approach her without awe, that my heart is checked 
by too much esteem : I am angry that her charms are not more 
accessible, that I am more inclined to worship than salute her : 
how often have I wished her unhappy that I might have an op- 
portunity of serving her? and how often troubled in that very 
imagination, at giving her the pain of being obliged? Well, I 
have led a miserable life in secret upon her account ; but fancy 
she would have condescended to have some regard for me, if it 
had not been for that watchful animal her confidante. 

" Of all persons under the sun " (continued he, calling me by 
my name) " be sure to set a mark upon confidantes : they are of 
all people the most impertinent. What is most pleasant to ob- 
serve in them, is, that they assume to themselves the merit of the 
persons whom they have in their custody. Orestilla is a great 
fortune, and in wonderful danger of surprises, therefore full of 
suspicions of the least indifferent thing, particularly careful of 
new acquaintance, and of growing too familiar with the old. 
Themista, her favorite woman, is every whit as careful of whom 
she speaks to, and what she says. Let the ward be a beauty, 
her confidante shall treat you with an air of distance ; let her be 
a fortune, and she assumes the suspicious behavior of her friend 
and patroness. Thus it is that very many of our unmarried 
women of distinction, are to all intents and purposes married, ex- 
cept the consideration of different sexes. They are directly under 
the conduct of their whisperer ; and think they are in a state of 
freedom, while they can prate with one of these attendants of all 
men in general, and still avoid the man they most like. You do 
not see one heiress in a hundred whose fate does not turn upon 
this circumstance of choosing a confidante. Thus it is that the 
lady is addressed to, presented and flattered, only by proxy, in 
her woman. In my case, how is it possible that " — Sir Roger 
was proceeding in his harangue, when we heard the voice of one 
speaking very importunately, and repeating these words, " What, 
not one smile? " We followed the sound till we came to a close 
thicket, on the other side of which we saw a young woman sitting 



STEELE. 75 

as it were in a personated sullenness just over a transparent 
fountain. Opposite to her stood Mr. William, Sir Roger's master 
of the game. The knight whispered me, " Hist, these are lovers." 
The huntsman looking earnestly at the shadow of the young 
maiden in the stream, " O thou dear picture, if thou couldst re- 
main there in the absence of that fair creature whom you repre- 
sent in the water, how willingly could I stand here satisfied for- 
ever, without troubling my dear Betty herself with any mention 
of her unfortunate William, whom she is angry with : but alas ! 
when she pleases to be gone, thou wilt also vanish — Yet let 
me talk to thee while thou dost stay. Tell my dearest Betty 
thou dost not more depend upon her, than does her William? 
Her absence will make away with me as well as thee. If she 
offers to remove thee, I'll jump into these waves to lay hold on 
thee ; herself, her own dear person, I must never embrace again — 
Still do you hear me without one smile — It is too much to 
bear" — He had no sooner spoke these words, but he made 
an offer of throwing himself into the water : at which his mistress 
started up, and at the next instant he jumped across the fountain 
and met her in an embrace. She half recovering from her fright, 
said in the most charming voice imaginable, and with a tone of 
complaint, " I thought how well you would drown yourself. No, 
no, you won't drown yourself till you have taken your leave of 
Susan Holliday." The huntsman, with a tenderness that spoke 
the most passionate love, and with his cheek close to hers, whis- 
pered the softest vows of fidelity in her ear, and cried, " Don't, 
my dear, believe a word Kate Willow says ; she is spiteful and 
makes stories, because she loves to hear me talk to herself for 
your sake." — " Look you there," quoth Sir Roger, " do you see 
there, all mischief comes from confidantes ! But let us not inter- 
rupt them ; the maid is honest, and the man dares not be other- 
wise, for he knows I loved her father: I will interpose in this 
matter, and hasten the wedding. Kate Willow is a witty mis- 
chievous wench in the neighborhood, who was a beauty ; and 
makes me hope I shall see the perverse widow in her condition. 



76 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

She was so flippant with her answers to all the honest fellows that 
came near her, and so very vain of her beauty, that she has 
valued herself upon her charms till they are ceased. She there- 
fore now makes it her business to prevent other young women 
from being more discreet than she was herself: however, the 
saucy tiling said the other day well enough, ' Sir Roger and I 
must make a match, for we are both despised by those we loved : ' 
the hussy has a great deal of power wherever she comes, and has 
her share of cunning. 

" However, when I reflect upon this woman, I do not know 
whether in the main I am the worse for having loved her : when- 
ever she is recalled to my imagination my youth returns, and I 
feel a forgotten warmth in my veins. This affliction in my life 
has streaked all my conduct with a softness, of which I should 
otherwise have been incapable. It is, perhaps, to this dear image 
in my heart owing, that I am apt to relent, that I easily forgive, 
and that many desirable things are grown into my temper, which 
I should not have arrived at by better motives than the thought 
of being one day hers. I am pretty well satisfied such a passion 
as I have had is never well cured; and between you and, me, I 
am often apt to imagine it has had some whimsical effect upon 
my brain : for I frequently find, that in my most serious discourse 
I let fall some comical familiarity of speech or odd phrase that 
makes the company laugh; however, I cannot but allow she is a 
most excellent woman. When she is in the country I warrant she 
does not run into dairies, but reads upon the nature of plants ; 
but has a glass hive, and comes into the garden out of books to 
see them work, and observe the policies of their commonwealth. 
She understands everything. I'd give ten pounds to hear her 
argue with my friend Sir Andrew Freeport about trade. No, no, 
for all she looks so innocent, as it were, take my word for it she 
is no fool." T. 



ADDISON. 77 

COUNTRY MANNERS. 

\Addison, in Spectator, No. ng. Tuesday, July ij, 1711.] 

" Urbem quam dicunt Romania Melibcee, putavi 
Stultus ego hide nostra similem." l 

Virgil, Eclogues, i. 20. 

THE first and most obvious reflections which arise in a man 
who changes the city for the country, are upon the different 
manners of the people whom he meets with in those two different 
scenes of life. By manners I do not mean morals, but behavior 
and good breeding, as they show themselves in the town and in 
the country. 

And here, in the first place, I must observe a very great revo- 
lution that has happened in this article of good breeding. Sev- 
eral obliging deferences, condescensions and submissions, with 
many outward forms and ceremonies that accompany them, were 
first of all brought up among the politer part of mankind, who 
lived in courts and cities, and distinguished themselves from the 
rustic part of the species (who on all occasions acted bluntly and 
naturally) by such a mutual complaisance and intercourse of 
civilities. These forms of conversation by degrees multiplied and 
grew troublesome; the modish world found too great a con- 
straint in them, and have therefore thrown most of them aside. 
Conversation, like the Romish religion, was so encumbered with 
show and ceremony, that it stood in need of a reformation to 
retrench its superfluities, and restore it to its natural good sense 
and beauty. At present therefore an unconstrained carriage, and 
a certain openness of behavior, are the height of good breeding. 
The fashionable world is grown free and easy ; our manners sit 
more loose upon us : nothing is so modish as an agreeable negli- 

1 Warton's translation : — 

" The city men call Rome, unskillful clown, 
I thought resembled this our humble town." 



78 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

gence. In a word, good breeding shows itself most, where to 
an ordinary eye it appears the least. 

If after this we look on the people of mode in the country, 
we find in them the manners of the last age. They have no 
sooner fetched themselves up to the fashion of the polite world, 
but the town has dropped them, and are nearer to the first state 
of nature than to those refinements which formerly reigned in the 
court, and still prevail in the country. One may now know a 
man that never conversed in the world, by his excess of good 
breeding. A polite country squire shall make you as many bows 
in half an hour, as would serve a courtier for a week. There is 
infinitely more to do about place and precedency in a meeting 
of justices' wives, than in an assembly of duchesses. 

This rural politeness is very troublesome to a man of my 
temper, who generally take the chair that is next me, and walk 
first or last, in the front or in the rear, as chance directs. I have 
known my friend Sir Roger's dinner almost cold before the com- 
pany could adjust the ceremonial, and be prevailed upon to sit 
down ; and have heartily pitied my old friend, when I have 
seen him forced to pick and cull his guests, as they sat at the 
several parts of his table, that he might drink their healths accord- 
ing to their respective ranks and qualities. Honest Will Wimble, 
who I should have thought had been altogether uninfected with 
ceremony, gives me abundance of trouble in this particular. 
Though he has been fishing all the morning, he will not help 
himself at dinner till I am served. When we are going out of 
the hall, he runs behind me ; and last night, as we were walking 
in the fields, stopped short at a stile till I came up to it, and 
upon my making signs to him to get over, told me, with a serious 
smile, that sure I believed they had no manners in the country. 

There has happened another revolution in the point of good 
breeding, which relates to the conversation among men of mode, 
and which I cannot but look upon as very extraordinary. It 
was certainly one of the first distinctions of a well-bred man, to 
express everything that had the most remote appearance of being 



ADDISON. 79 

obscene, in modest terms and distant phrases ; whilst the clown, 
who had no such delicacy of conception and expression, clothed 
his ideas in those plain homely terms that are the most obvious 
and natural. This kind of good manners was perhaps carried to 
an excess, so as to make conversation too stiff, formal and pre- 
cise ; for which reason (as hypocrisy in one age is generally suc- 
ceeded by atheism in another) conversation is in a great measure 
relapsed into the first extreme ; so that at present several of our 
men of the town, and particularly those who have been polished 
in France, make use of the most coarse uncivilized words in our 
language, and utter themselves often in such a manner as a clown 
would blush to hear. 

This infamous piece of good breeding, which reigns among the 
coxcombs of the town, has not yet made its way into the country ; 
and as it is impossible for such an irrational way of conversation 
to last long among a people that make any profession of religion, 
or show of modesty, if the country gentlemen get into it they 
will certainly be left in the lurch. Their good breeding will 
come too late to them, and they will be thought a parcel of lewd 
clowns, while they fancy themselves talking together like men of 
wit and pleasure. 

As the two points of good breeding, which I have hitherto 
insisted upon, regard behavior and conversation, there is a third 
which turns upon dress. In this too the country are very much 
behindhand. The rural beaus are not yet got out of the fashion 
that took place at the time of the Revolution, but ride about the 
country in red coats and laced hats, while the women in many 
parts are still trying to outvie one another in the height of their 
head-dresses. 

But a friend of mine, who is. now upon the western circuit, 1 
having promised to give me an account of the several modes and 
fashions that prevail in the different parts of the nation through 
which he passes, I shall defer the enlarging upon this last topic 
till I have received a letter from him, which I expect every post, 

L. 
1 One of the eight judicial divisions of England and Wales. 



So JDE COVERLEY PAPERS. 



SIR ROGER'S POULTRY. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 120. Wednesday, July 18, 1711J] 

" Eqiiidetn credo, quia sit divinities illis 
Ingenium."* Virgil, Georgics, L 451. 

MY friend Sir Roger is very often merry with me upon my 
passing so much of my time among his poultry : he has 
caught me twice or thrice looking after a bird's-nest, and several 
times sitting an hour or two together near a hen and chickens. 
He tells me he believes I am personally acquainted with every 
fowl about his house ; calls such a particular cock my favorite, 
and frequently complains that his ducks and geese have more of 
my company than himself. 

I must confess I am infinitely delighted with those speculations 
of nature which are to be made in a country life ; and as my 
reading has very much lain among books of natural history, I 
cannot forbear recollecting upon this occasion the several remarks 
which I have met with in authors, and comparing them with 
what falls under my own observation : the arguments for Provi- 
dence drawn from the natural history of animals being in my 
opinion demonstrative. 

The make of every kind of animal is different from that of 
every other kind; and yet there is not the least turn in the 
muscles or twist in the fibers of any one, which does not render 
them more proper for that particular animal's way of life than 
any other cast or texture of them would have been. 

The most violent appetites in all creatures are lust and hun- 
ger : the first is a perpetual call upon them to propagate their 
kind ; the latter to preserve themselves. 

1 Free translation : — 

" I deem their breasts inspir'd 
With a divine sagacity." 



ADDISON. 8 1 

It is astonishing to consider the different degrees of care that 
descend from the parent to the young, so far as is absolutely 
necessary for the leaving a posterity. Some creatures cast their 
eggs as chance directs them, and think of them no further, as 
insects and several kinds of fish : others, of a nicer frame, find 
out proper beds to deposit them in, and there leave them ; as 
the serpent, the crocodile, and ostrich : others hatch their eggs 
and tend the birth, till it is able to shift for itself. 

What can we call the principle which directs every different 
kind of bird to observe a particular plan in the structure of its 
nest, and directs all of the same species to work after the same 
model? It cannot be imitation; for though you hatch a crow 
under a hen, and never let it see any of the works of its own 
kind, the nest it makes shall be the same, to the laying of a stick, 
with all the other nests of the same species. It cannot be reason ; 
for were animals endued with it to as great a degree as man, 
their buildings would be as different as ours, according to the 
different conveniences that they would propose to themselves. 

Is it not remarkable, that the same temper of weather, which 
raises this genial warmth in animals, should cover the trees with 
leaves and the fields with grass for their security and conceal- 
ment, and produce such infinite swarms of insects for the sup- 
port and sustenance of their respective broods? 

Is it not wonderful, that the love of the parent should be so 
violent while it lasts ; and that it should last no longer than is 
necessary for the preservation of the young? 

But notwithstanding this natural love in brutes is much more 
violent and intense than in rational creatures, Providence has 
taken care that it should be no longer troublesome to the parent 
than it is useful to the young : for so soon as the wants of the 
latter cease, the mother withdraws her fondness, and leaves them 
to provide for themselves : and what is a very remarkable cir- 
cumstance in this part of instinct, we find that the love of the 
parent may be lengthened out beyond its usual time, if the pres- 
ervation of the species requires it ; as we may see in birds that 



82 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

drive away their young as soon as they are able to get their live- 
lihood, but continue to feed them if they are tied to the nest, or 
confined within a cage, or by any other means appear to be out 
of a condition of supplying their own necessities. 

This natural love is not observed in animals to ascend from 
the young to the parent, which is not at all necessary for the 
continuance of the species : nor indeed in reasonable creatures 
does it rise in any proportion, as it spreads itself downwards ; for 
in all family affection, we find protection granted and favors 
bestowed, are greater motives to love and tenderness, than safety, 
benefits, or life received. 

One would wonder to hear skeptical men disputing for the 
reason of animals, and telling us it is only our pride and preju- I 
dices that will not allow them the use of that faculty. 

Reason shows itself in all occurrences of life; whereas the 
brute makes no discovery of such a talent, but in what imme- 
diately regards his own preservation, or the continuance of his 
species. Animals in their generation are wiser than the sons of 
men ; but their wisdom is confined to a few particulars, and lies 
in a very narrow compass. Take a brute out of his instinct, and 
you find him wholly deprived of understanding. To use an 
instance that comes often under observation. 

With what caution does the hen provide herself a nest in places 
unfrequented, and free from noise and disturbance! When she 
has laid her eggs in such a manner that she can cover them, 
what care does she take in turning them frequently, that all parts 
may partake of the vital warmth? When she leaves them, tol* 
provide for her necessary sustenance, how punctually does she 
return before they have time to cool, and become incapable of 
producing an animal ? In the summer you see her giving herself 
greater freedoms, and quitting her care for above two hours to- 
gether ; but in winter, when the rigor of the season would chill 
the principles of life, and destroy the young one, she grows more 
assiduous in her attendance, and stays away but half the time. 
When the birth approaches, with how much nicety and attention 



ADDISON. S3 

does she help the chick to break its prison? Not to take notice 
of her covering it from the injuries of the weather, providing it 
proper nourishment, and teaching it to help itself ; nor to men- 
tion her forsaking the nest, if after the usual time of reckoning 
the young one does not make its appearance. A chemical opera- 
tion could not be followed with greater art or diligence, than is 
seen in the hatching of a chick ; though there are many other 
birds that show an infinitely greater sagacity in all the foremen- 
tioned particulars. 

But at the same time the hen, that has all this seeming ingenu- 
ity, (which is indeed absolutely necessary for the propagation of 
the species) considered in other respects, is without the least 
glimmerings of thought or common sense. She mistakes a piece 
of chalk for an egg, and sits upon it in the same manner : she is 
insensible of any increase or diminution in the number of those 
she lays : she does not distinguish between her own and those of 
another species ; and when the birth appears of never so different 
a bird, will cherish it for her own. In all these circumstances 
which do not carry an immediate regard to the subsistence of 
herself or her species, she is a very idiot. 

There is not, in my opinion, anything more mysterious in na- 
ture than this instinct in animals, which thus rises above reason, 
and falls infinitely short of it. It cannot be accounted for by 
any properties in matter, and at the same time works after so 
odd a manner, that one cannot think it the faculty of an intel- 
lectual being. For my own part, I look upon it as upon the 
principle of gravitation in bodies, which is not to be explained 
by any known qualities inherent in the bodies themselves, nor 
from any laws of mechanism, but, according to the best notions 
of the greatest philosophers, is an immediate impression from the 
first Mover, and the Divine Energy acting in the creatures. 

L, 



84 DE COVERLEY PAPERS, 



THE ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 121. Thursday, July ig, iji j, .] 

" ' Jovis omnia plena.' 1 ' 1 * 

Virgil, Eclogues, iii. 60. 

AS I was walking this morning in the great yard that belongs 
ii to my friend's country house, I was wonderfully pleased to 
see the different workings of instinct in a hen followed by a 
brood of ducks. The young, upon the sight of a pond, imme- 
diately ran into it; while the stepmother, with all imaginable 
anxiety, hovered about the borders of it, to call them out of an 
element that appeared to her so dangerous and destructive. As 
the different principle which acted in these different animals can- 
not be termed 'reason, so when we call it instinct, we mean some- 
thing we have no knowledge of. To me, as I hinted in my last 
paper, it seems the immediate direction of Providence, and such 
an operation of the Supreme Being, as that which determines all 
the portions of matter to their proper centers. A modern philos- 
opher, quoted by Monsieur Bayle 2 in his learned "Dissertation 
on the Souls of Brutes," delivers the same opinion, though in a 
bolder form of words, where he says, Dens est anima brutorum, 
" God himself is the soul of brutes." Who can tell what to call 
that seeming sagacity in animals, which directs them to such 
food as is proper for them, and makes them naturally avoid what- 
ever is noxious or unwholesome? Dampier, 3 in his " Travels," 

1 "All things are full of Jove." 

2 Pierre Bayle (1 647-1 706) was a French skeptic, logician, and critic, and 
one of the most independent thinkers and writers of the seventeenth century. 
His principal work is an Historical and Critical Dictionary, a work of wide 
learning and acuteness. 

3 William Dampier (1652-1712) was a daring English navigator who pub- 
lished an account of his filibustering in the West Indies, and also of his voy- 
ages to the South Seas. 



ADD I SO 1ST. 85 

tells us, that when seamen are thrown upon any of the unknown 
coasts of America, they never venture upon the fruit of any tree, 
how tempting soever it may appear, unless they observe that it 
is marked with the pecking of birds ; but fall on without any fear 
or apprehension where the birds have been before them. 

But notwithstanding animals have nothing like the use of 
reason, we find in them all the lower parts of our nature, the pas- 
sions and senses in their greatest strength and perfection. And 
here it is worth our observation, that all beasts and birds of prey 
are wonderfully subject to anger, malice, revenge, and all the 
other violent passions that may animate them in search of their 
proper food ; as those that are incapable of defending themselves, 
or annoying others, or whose safety lies chiefly in their flight, are 
suspicious, fearful and apprehensive of everything they see or 
hear ; whilst others that are of assistance and use to man, have 
their natures softened with something mild and tractable, and by 
that means are qualified for a domestic life. In this case the 
passions generally correspond with the make of the body. We 
do not find the fury of a lion in so weak and defenseless an ani- 
mal as a lamb, nor the meekness of a lamb in a creature so armed 
for battle and assault as the lion. In the same manner, we find 
that particular animals have a more or less exquisite sharpness 
and sagacity in those particular senses which most turn to their 
advantage, and in which their safety and welfare is the most 
concerned. 

Nor must we here omit that great variety of arms with which 
Nature has differently fortified the bodies of several kind of ani- 
mals, such as claws, hoofs, and horns, teeth, and tusks, a tail, a 
sting, a trunk, or a proboscis. It is likewise observed by natu- 
ralists, that it must be some hidden principle distinct from what 
we call reason, which instructs animals in the use of these their 
arms, and teaches them to manage them to the best advantage ; 
because they naturally defend themselves with that part in which 
their strength lies, before the weapon be formed in it ; as is re- 
markable in lambs, which though they are bred within doors, and 



86 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

never saw the actions of their own species, push at those who 
approach them with their foreheads, before the first budding of 
a horn appears. 

I shall add to these general observations, an instance which 
Mr. Locke 1 has given us of Providence even in the imperfec- 
tions of a creature which seems the meanest and most despicable 
in the whole animal world. " We may," says he, " from the 
make of an oyster, or cockle, conclude, that it has not so many 
nor so quick senses as a man, or several other animals : nor if it 
had, would it, in that state and incapacity of transferring itself 
from one place to another, be bettered by them. What good 
would sight and hearing do to a creature, that cannot move itself 
to, or from the object, wherein at a distance it perceives good 01 
evil? And would not quickness of sensation be an inconven- 
ience to an animal, that must be still where chance has once 
placed it ; and there receive the afflux of colder or warmer, clean 
or foul water, as it happens to come to it? " 

I shall add to this instance out of Mr. Locke another out of 
the learned Dr. More, 2 who cites it from Cardan, 3 in relation to 
another animal which Providence has left defective, but at the 
same time has shown its wisdom in the formation of that organ 
in which it seems chiefly to have failed. " What is more obvious 
and ordinary than a mole? and yet what more palpable argument 
of Providence than she? The members of her body are so 
exactly fitted to her nature and manner of life : for her dwelling 
being under ground where nothing is to be seen, Nature has so 
obscurely fitted her with eyes, that naturalists can hardly agree 
whether she have any sight at all or no. But for amends, what 
she is capable of for her defense and warning of danger, she has 

1 See note, p. 44. 

2 Henry More (1614-87) was an eminent English divine and philosophic 
writer. 

3 Jerome Cardan or Cardano (1501-76) was an Italian physician, mathe- 
matician, and astrologer, one of the most interesting personages connected 
with the revival of science in Europe. 



ADDISON. 87 

very eminently conferred upon her ; for she is exceeding quick 
of hearing. And then her short tail and short legs, but broad 
fore feet armed with sharp claws, we see by the event to what 
purpose they are, she so swiftly working herself under ground, 
and making her way so fast in the earth as they that behold it 
cannot but admire it. Her legs therefore are short, that she 
need dig no more than will serve the mere thickness of her body ; 
and her fore feet are broad that she may scoop away much earth 
at a time ; and little or no tail she has, because she courses it 
not on the ground, like the rat or mouse, of whose kindred she 
is, but lives under the earth, and is fain to dig herself a dwelling 
there. And she making her way through so thick an element, 
which will not yield easily, as the air or the water, it had been 
dangerous to have drawn so long a train behind her ; for her 
enemy might fall upon her rear, and fetch her out, before she 
had completed or got full possession of her works." 

I cannot forbear mentioning Mr. Boyle's 1 remark upon this 
last creature, who I remember somewhere in his works observes, 
that though the mole be not totally blind (as it is commonly 
thought) she has not sight enough to distinguish particular ob- 
jects. Her eye is said to have but one humor in it, which is sup- 
posed to give her the idea of light, but of nothing else, and is so 
formed that this idea is probably painful to the animal. When- 
ever she comes up into broad day she might be in danger of be- 
ing taken, unless she were thus affected by a light striking upon 
her eye, and immediately warning her to bury herself in her 
proper element. More sight would be useless to her, as none at 
all might be fatal. 

I have only instanced such animals as seem the most imperfect 
works of nature ; and if Providence shows itself even in the 
blemishes of these creatures, how much more does it discover it- 

1 Robert Boyle (1626-91), often called the "Great Christian Philosopher," 
was a celebrated chemist and experimental philosopher, one of the founders 
of the Royal Society of London, and author of many learned works. He was 
born in Ireland. 



88 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

self in the several endowments which it has variously bestowed 
upon such creatures as are more or less finished and completed 
in their several faculties, according to the condition of life in 
which they are posted. 

I could wish our Royal Society 1 would compile a body of 
natural history, the best that could be gathered together from 
books and observations. If the several writers among them took 
each his particular species, and gave us a distinct account of its 
original, birth and education ; its policies, hostilities and alli- 
ances, with the frame and texture of its inward and outward 
parts, and particularly those that distinguish it from all other 
animals, with their peculiar aptitudes for the state of being in 
which Providence has placed them, it would be one of the best 
services their studies could do mankind, and not a little redound 
to the glory of the all-wise Contriver. 

It is true, such a natural history, after all the disquisitions of 
the learned, would be infinitely short and defective. Seas and 
deserts hide millions of animals from our observation. Innumer- 
able artifices and stratagems are acted in the "howling wilder- 
ness" and in the "great deep," that can never come to our 
knowledge. Besides that there are infinitely more species of 
creatures which are not to be seen without, nor indeed with the 
help of the finest glasses, than of such as are bulky enough for 
the naked eye to take hold of. However from the consideration 
of such animals as lie within the compass of our knowledge, we 
might easily form a conclusion of the rest, that the same variety 
of wisdom and goodness runs through the whole creation, and 
puts every creature in a condition to provide for its safety and 
subsistence in its proper station. 

Tully 2 has given us an admirable sketch of natural history, in 
his second book concerning the nature of the gods ; and then in 

1 A most famous scientific society of London, founded in 1660, for the 
promotion of mathematical and physical science. It has included among its 
members most of the great men of science in England. 

2 See Note 5, p. 20. 



ADDISON. 89 

a style so raised by metaphors and descriptions, that it lifts the 
subject above raillery and ridicule, which frequently fall on such 
nice observations when they pass through the hands of an 
ordinary writer. L. 



SIR ROGER AMONG HIS NEIGHBORS. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 122. Friday, July 20, 171X.] 

" Comes juciindiis in via pro vehiculo est.''' 1 * 

Publius Syrus, Fragmenta. 

A MAN' S first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his 
own heart ; his next, to escape the censures of the world : 
if the last interferes with the former, it ought to be entirely 
neglected ; but otherwise, there cannot be a greater satisfaction to 
an honest mind, than to see those approbations which it gives it- 
self seconded by the applauses of the public : a man is more sure 
of his conduct, when the verdict which he passes upon his own 
behavior is thus warranted and confirmed by the opinion of all 
that know him. 

My worthy friend Sir Roger is one of those who is not only at 
peace within himself, but beloved and esteemed by all about him. 
He receives a suitable tribute for his universal benevolence to 
mankind, in the returns of affection and good will, which are 
paid him by every one that lives within his neighborhood. I 
lately met with two or three odd instances of that general respect 
which is shown to the good old knight. He would needs carry 
Will Wimble and myself with him to the county assizes : 2 as 
we were upon the road Will Wimble joined a couple of plain 
men who rid before us, and conversed with them for some time ; 
during which my friend Sir Roger acquainted me with their 
characters. 

1 " An agreeable companion upon the road is as good as a coach." 

2 See note, p. 52. 



90 BE COVERLEY 'PAPERS. 

" The first of them," says he, " that has a spaniel by his side, 
is a yeoman of about a hundred pounds a year, an honest man : 
he is just within the Game Act, 1 and qualified to kill a hare or a 
pheasant : he knocks down a dinner with his gun twice or thrice 
a week ; and by that means lives much cheaper than those who 
have not so good an estate as himself. He would be a good 
neighbor if he did not destroy so many partridges : in short, he 
is a very sensible man ; shoots flying ; and has been several times 
foreman of the petty jury. 

" The other that rides along with him is Tom Touchy, a fellow 
famous for ( taking the law ' of everybody. There is not one in 
the town where he lives that he has not sued at a quarter-ses- 
sions. The rogue had once the impudence to go to law with the 
widow. His head is full of costs, damages, and ejectments : he 
plagued a couple of honest gentlemen so long for a trespass in 
breaking one of his hedges, till he was forced to sell the ground 
it inclosed to defray the charges of the prosecution : his father 
left him fourscore pounds a year ; but he has cast 2 and been cast 
so often, that he is not now worth thirty. I suppose he is going 
upon the old business of the Willow Tree." 

As Sir Roger was giving me this account of Tom Touchy, Will 
Wimble and his two companions stopped short till we came up 
to them. After having paid their respects to Sir Roger, Will told 
him that Mr. Touchy and he must appeal to him upon a dispute 
that arose between them. Will it seems had been giving his fel- 
low-traveler an account of his angling one day in such a hole ; 
when Tom Touchy, instead of hearing out his story, told him 
that Mr. Such-a-one, if he pleased, might " take the law of him " 
for fishing in that part of the river. My friend Sir Roger heard 
them both, upon a round trot ; and after having paused some 

1 "Just within the Game Act:" It was necessary for an Englishman to 
own property to the amount of a hundred pounds per annum before he was 
free to shoot game. A poorer man who shot a hare was a malefactor. This 
law was only repealed in 1827. 

2 To defeat in a lawsuit. 



ADDISON. 91 

time told them, with the air of a man who would not give his 
judgment rashly, that much might be said on both sides. They 
were neither of them dissatisfied with the knight's determination, 
because neither of them found himself in the wrong by it : upon 
which we made the best of our way to the assizes. 

The court was sat before Sir Roger came ; but notwithstand- 
ing all the justices had taken their places upon the bench, they 
made room for the old knight at the head of them ; who for his 
reputation in the country took occasion to whisper in the judge's 
ear, that he was glad his lordship had met with so much good 
weather in his circuit. I was listening to the proceeding of the 
court with much attention, and infinitely pleased with that great 
appearance and solemnity which so properly accompanies such 
a public administration of our laws ; when, after about an hour's 
sitting, I observed to my great surprise, in the midst of a trial, 
that my friend Sir Roger was getting up to speak. I was in 
some pain for him, till I found he had acquitted himself of two 
or three sentences, with a look of much business and great 
intrepidity. 

Upon his first rising the court was hushed, and a general 
whisper ran among the country people that Sir Roger "was up." 
The speech he made was so little to the purpose, that I shall not 
trouble my readers with an account of it ; and I believe was not 
so much designed by the knight himself to inform the court, as 
to give him a figure in my eye, and keep up his credit in the 
country. 

I was highly delighted, when the court rose, to see the gentle- 
men of the country gathering about my old friend, and striving 
who should compliment him most ; at the same time that the 
ordinary people gazed upon him at a distance, not a little admir- 
ing his courage, that was not afraid to speak to the judge. 

In our return home we met with a very odd accident ; which 
I cannot forbear relating, because it shows how desirous all who 
know Sir Roger are of giving him marks of their esteem. When 
we were arrived upon the verge of his estate, we stopped at a 



92 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

little inn to rest ourselves and our horses. The man of the house 
had it seems been formerly a servant in the knight's family ; and 
to do honor to his old master, had some time since, unknown to 
Sir Roger, put him up in a sign-post before the door ; so that the 
knight's head had hung out upon the road about a week before 
he himself knew anything of the matter. As soon as Sir Roger 
was acquainted with it, finding that his servant's indiscretion 
proceeded wholly from affection and good will, he only told him 
that he had made him too high a compliment ; and when the 
fellow seemed to think that could hardly be, added with a more 
decisive look, that it was too great an honor for any man under 
a duke ; but told him at the same time, that it might be altered 
with a very few touches, and that he himself would be at the 
charge of it. Accordingly they got a painter by the knight's 
directions to add a pair of whiskers to the face, and by a little 
aggravation to the features to change it into the Saracen's head. 
I should not have known this story had not the innkeeper, upon 
Sir Roger's alighting, told him in my hearing, that his honor's head 
was brought back last night with the alterations that he had ordered 
to be made in it. Upon this my friend with his usual cheer- 
fulness related the particulars above mentioned, and ordered the 
head to be brought into the room. I could not forbear discover- 
ing greater expressions of mirth than ordinary upon the appear- 
ance of this monstrous face, under which, notwithstanding it was 
made to frown and stare in a most extraordinary manner, I could 
still discover a distant resemblance of my old friend. Sir Roger, 
upon seeing me laugh, desired me to tell him truly if I thought 
it possible for people to know him in that disguise. I at first 
kept my usual silence ; but upon the knight's conjuring me to 
tell him whether it was not still more like himself than a Saracen, 
I composed my countenance in the best manner I could, and 
replied, that much might be said on both sides. 

These several adventures, with the knight's behavior in them, 
gave me as pleasant a day as ever I met with in any of my 
travels. L. 



ADDISON. 93 

THE STORY OF FLORIO AND LEONILLA. 

[Add/son, in Spectator, No. 123. Saturday, July 21, 17/1.] 

"Doctrina sed vim promovet insitam, 
Rectique cultus pectora roborant: 
Utcunque defecere mores, 
Dedecorant bene nata culpce." 1 

Horace, Lib. IV., Ode iv. 33. 

AS I was yesterday taking the air with my friend Sir Roger, 
XjL we were met by a fresh-colored ruddy young man, who rid 
by us full speed, with a couple of servants behind him. Upon 
my inquiry who he was, Sir Roger told me that he was a young 
gentleman of a considerable estate, who had been educated by a 
tender mother that lives not many miles from the place where 
we were. She is a very good lady, says my friend, but took so 
much care of her son's health, that she has made him good for 
nothing. She quickly found that reading was bad for his eyes, 
and that writing made his head ache. He was let loose among 
the woods as soon as he was able to ride on horseback, or to 
carry a gun upon his shoulder. To be brief, I found, by my 
friend's account of him, that he had got a great stock of health, 
but nothing else ; and that if it were a man's business only to 
live, there would not be a more accomplished young fellow in 
the, whole country. 

The truth of it is, since my residing in these parts I have seen 
and heard innumerable instances of young heirs and elder 
brothers, who either from their own reflecting upon the estates 
they are born to, and therefore thinking all other accomplish- 
ments unnecessary, or from hearing these notions frequently in- 

1 Oldis worth's translation : — 

" Yet the best blood by learning is refin'd, 
And virtue arms the solid mind ; 
Whilst vice will stain the noblest race, 
And the paternal stamp efface." 



94 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

culcated to them by the flattery of their servants and domestics, 
or from the same foolish thought prevailing in those who have 
the care of their education, are of no manner of use but to keep 
up their families, and transmit their lands and houses in a line to 
posterity. 

This makes me often think on a story I have heard of two 
friends, which I shall give my reader at large, under feigned 
names. The moral of it may, I hope, be useful, though there 
are some circumstances which make it rather appear like a novel, 
than a true story. 

Eudoxus and Leontine began the world with small estates. 
They were both of them men of good sense and great virtue. 
They prosecuted their studies together in their earlier years, and 
entered into such a friendship as lasted to the end of their lives. 
Eudoxus, at his first setting out in the world, threw himself into 
a court, where by his natural endowments and his acquired abili- 
ties he made his way from one post to another, till at length he 
had raised a very considerable fortune. Leontine on the con- 
trary sought all opportunities of improving his mind by study, 
conversation, and travel. He was not only acquainted with all 
the sciences, but with the most eminent professors of them 
throughout Europe. He knew perfectly well the interests of its 
princes, with the customs and fashions of their courts, and could 
scarce meet with the name of an extraordinary person in the 
" Gazette " whom he had not either talked to or seen. In short, he 
had so well mixed and digested his knowledge of men and books, 
that he made one of the most accomplished persons of his age. 
During the whole course of his studies and travels he kept up a 
punctual correspondence with Eudoxus, who often made himself 
acceptable to the principal men about court by the intelligence 
which he received from Leontine. When they were both turned 
of forty (an age in which, according to Mr. Cowley, " there is no 
dallying with life ") they determined, pursuant to the resolution 
they had taken in the beginning of their lives, to retire, and pass 
the remainder of their days in the country. In order to this, they 



ADDISON. 95 

both of them married much about the same time. Leontine, 
with his own and his wife's fortune, bought a farm of three hun- 
dred a year, which lay within the neighborhood of his friend 
Eudoxus, who had purchased an estate of as many thousands. 
They were both of them fathers about the same time, Eudoxus 
having a son born to him, and Leontine a daughter ; but to the 
unspeakable grief of the latter, his young wife (in whom all his 
happiness was wrapped up) died in a few days after the birth of 
her daughter. His affliction would have been insupportable, had 
not he been comforted by the daily visits and conversations of 
his friend. As they were one day talking together with their 
usual intimacy, Leontine, considering how incapable he was of 
giving his daughter a proper education in his own house, and 
Eudoxus reflecting on the ordinary behavior of a son who knows 
himself to be the heir of a great estate, they both agreed upon 
an exchange of children, namely that the boy should be bred up 
with Leontine as his son, and that the girl should live with 
Eudoxus as his daughter, till they were each of them arrived at 
years of discretion. The wife of Eudoxus, knowing that her son 
could not be so advantageously brought up as under the care of 
Leontine, and considering at the same time that he would be 
perpetually under her own eye, was by degrees prevailed upon to 
fall in with the project. She therefore took Leonilla, for that 
was the name of the girl, and educated her as her own daughter. 
The two friends on each side had wrought themselves to such an 
habitual tenderness for the children who were under their direc- 
tion, that each of them had the real passion of a father, where 
the title was but imaginary. Florio, the name of the young heir 
that lived with Leontine, though he had all the duty and affection 
imaginable for his supposed parent, was taught to rejoice at the 
sight of Eudoxus, who visited his friend very frequently, and 
was dictated by his natural affection, as well as by the rules of 
prudence, to make himself esteemed and beloved by Florio. The 
boy was now old enough to know his supposed father's circum- 
stances, and that therefore he was to make his way in the world 



96 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

by his own industry. This consideration grew stronger in him 
every day, and produced so good an effect, that he applied him- 
self with more than ordinary attention to the pursuit of everything 
which Leontine recommended to him. His natural abilities, 
which were very good, assisted by the directions of so excellent 
a counselor, enabled him to make a quicker progress than ordi- 
nary through all the parts of his education. Before he was 
twenty years of age, having finished his studies and exercises 
with great applause, he was removed from the university to the 
inns of court, where there are very few that make themselves 
considerable proficients in the studies of the place, who know 
they shall arrive at great estates without them. This was not 
Florio's case ; he found that three hundred a year was but a 
poor estate for Leontine and himself to live upon, so that he 
studied without intermission till he gained a very good insight 
into the constitution and laws of his country. 

I should have told my reader, that whilst Florio lived at the 
house of his foster father, he was always an acceptable guest in 
the family of Eudoxus, where he became acquainted with Leonilla 
from her infancy. His acquaintance with her by degrees grew 
into love, which in a mind trained up in all the sentiments of 
honor and virtue became a very uneasy passion. He despaired of 
gaining an heiress of so great a fortune, and would rather have 
died than attempted it by any indirect methods. Leonilla, who 
was a woman of the greatest beauty joined with the greatest 
modesty, entertained at the same time a secret passion for Florio, 
but conducted herself with so much prudence that she never gave 
him the least intimation of it. Florio was now engaged in all 
those arts and improvements that are proper to raise a man's 
private fortune, and give him a figure in his country, but secretly 
tormented with that passion which burns with the greatest fury 
in a virtuous and noble heart, when he received a sudden sum- 
mons from Leontine, to repair to him into the country the next 
day. For it seems Eudoxus was so filled with the report of his 
son's reputation, that he could no longer withhold making him- 



ADDISON. 97 

self known to him. The morning after his arrival at the house 
of his supposed father, Leontine told him that Eudoxus had 
something of great importance to communicate to him; upon 
which the good man embraced him, and wept. Florio was no 
sooner arrived at the great house that stood in his neighborhood, 
but Eudoxus took him by the hand, after the first salutes were 
over, and conducted him into his closet. He there opened to 
him the whole secret of his parentage and education, concluding 
after this manner : " I have no other way left of acknowledging 
my gratitude to Leontine, than by marrying you to his daughter. 
He shall not lose the pleasure of being your father by the dis- 
covery I have made to you. Leonilla too shall be still my 
daughter ; her filial piety, though misplaced, has been so exem- 
plary that it deserves the greatest reward I can confer upon it. 
You shall have the pleasure of seeing a great estate fall to you, 
which you would have lost the relish of had you known yourself 
born to it. Continue only to deserve it in the same manner you 
did before you were possessed of it. I have left your mother in 
the next room. Her heart yearns towards you. She is making 
the same discoveries to Leonilla which I have made to yourself." 
Florio was so overwhelmed with this profusion of happiness, that 
he was not able to make a reply, but threw himself down at his 
father's feet, and amidst a flood of tears, kissed and embraced 
his knees, asking his blessing, and expressing in dumb show those 
sentiments of love, duty, and gratitude that were too big for 
utterance. To conclude, the happy pair were married, and half 
Eudoxus's estate settled upon them. Leontine and Eudoxus 
passed the remainder of their lives together ; and received in the 
dutiful and affectionate behavior of Florio and Leonilla the just 
recompense, as well as the natural effects of that care which they 
had bestowed upon them in their education. L. 



98 DE COVERLEY PAPERS, 

PARTY SPIRIT. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 125. Tuesday, July 24, 1711.'] 

" ' Ne piceri, ne tanta animis assnescite bella : 
Neu patrics validas in viscera vertite vires." l 

Virgil, ^Eneid, Lib. VI. 832. 

MY worthy friend Sir Roger, when we are talking of the 
malice of parties, very frequently tells us an accident that 
happened to him when he was a schoolboy, which was at a time 
when the feuds ran high between the Roundheads and Cavaliers. 2 
This worthy knight, being then but a stripling, had occasion to 
inquire which was the way to St. Anne's Lane, upon which the 
person whom he spoke to, instead of answering his question, 
called him a young popish cur, and asked him who had made 
Anne a saint? The boy, being in some confusion, inquired of 
the next he met, which was the way to Anne's Lane ; but was 
called a prick-eared cur for his pains, and instead of being shown 
the way, was told that she had been a saint before he was born, 
and would be one after he was hanged. " LTpon this," says Sir 
Roger, " I did not think fit to repeat the former question, but 
going into every lane of the neighborhood, asked what they called 
the name of that lane." By which ingenious artifice he found 
out the place he inquired after, without giving offense to any 
party. Sir Roger generally closes this narrative with reflections 
on the mischief that parties do in the country ; how they spoil 
good neighborhood, and make honest gentlemen hate one an- 

1 Dryden's translation : — 

" This thirst of kindred blood, my sons, detest, 
Nor turn your face against your country's breast." 

2 " Roundheads" was the name given to the English Parliamentary party 
in the reign of Charles I. It was composed mostly of Puritans, who wore 
their hair cut short. The Cavaliers composed the Royalist party, were 
mostly Catholics, and wore their hair in long ringlets. 



ADDISON. 99 

other; besides that they manifestly tend to the prejudice of the 
land-tax, and the destruction of the game. 

There cannot a greater judgment befall a country than such a 
dreadful spirit of division as rends a government into two dis- 
tinct people, and makes them greater strangers and more averse 
to one another, than if they were actually two different nations. 
The effects of such a division are pernicious to the last degree, 
not only with regard to those advantages which they give the 
common enemy, but to those private evils which they produce in 
the heart of almost every particular person. This influence is 
very fatal both to men's morals and their understandings ; it sinks 
the virtue of a nation, and not only so, but destroys even common 



sense. 



A furious party spirit, when it rages in its full violence, exerts 
itself in civil war and bloodshed ; and when it is under its great- 
est restraints naturally breaks out in falsehood, detraction, cal- 
umny, and a partial administration of justice. In a word, it fills 
a nation with spleen and rancor, and extinguishes all the seeds 
of good nature, compassion and humanity. 

Plutarch 1 says very finely, that a man should not allow himself 
to hate even his enemies, "because," says he, "if you indulge 
this passion in some occasions, it will rise of itself in others ; if 
you hate your enemies, you will contract such a vicious habit of 
mind, as by degrees will break out upon those who are your 
friends, or those who are indifferent to you." I might here ob- 
serve how admirably this precept of morality (which derives the 
malignity of hatred from the passion itself, and not from its ob- 
ject) answers to that great rule 2 which was dictated to the world 
about a hundred years before this philosopher wrote ; but in- 

1 Plutarch (born about A.D. 50, date of death unknown), a great Greek 
philosopher and moralist, was the most famous biographer of antiquity. His 
Lives of the Greeks and Romans is admired and read wherever letters are 

known. 

2 " Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that 

curse you," etc. (Luke vi. 27-32). 



IOO DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

stead of that, I shall only take notice, with a real grief of heart, 
that the minds of many good men among us appear soured with 
party principles, and alienated from one another in such a man- 
ner, as seems to me altogether inconsistent with the dictates either 
of reason or religion. Zeal for a public cause is apt to breed 
passions in the hearts of virtuous persons, to which the regard of 
their own private interest would never have betrayed them. 

If this party spirit has so ill an effect on our morals, it has like- 
wise a very great one upon our judgments. We often hear a 
poor insipid paper or pamphlet cried up, and sometimes a noble 
piece depreciated, by those who are of a different principle from 
the author. One who is actuated by this spirit is almost under 
an incapacity of discerning either real blemishes or beauties. A 
man of merit in a different principle, is like an object seen in two 
different mediums, that appears crooked or broken, however 
straight and entire it may be in itself. For this reason there is 
scarce a person of any figure in England, who does not go by 
two contrary characters, as opposite to one another as light and 
darkness. Knowledge and learning suffer in a particular manner 
from this strange prejudice, which at present prevails amongst all 
ranks and degrees in the British nation. As men formerly be- 
came eminent in learned societies by their parts and acquisitions, 
they now distinguish themselves by the warmth and violence with 
which they espouse their respective parties. Books are valued 
upon the like considerations : an abusive scurrilous style passes 
for satire, and a dull scheme of party notions is called fine writing. 

There is one piece of sophistry practiced by both sides, and 
that is the taking any scandalous story that has been ever whis- 
pered or invented of a private man, for a known undoubted 
truth, and raising suitable speculations upon it. Calumnies that 
have been never proved, or have been often refuted, are the or- 
dinary postulatums of these infamous scribblers, upon which they 
proceed as upon first principles granted by all men, though in 
their hearts they know they are false, or at best very doubtful. 
When they have laid theoe foundations of scurrility, it is no 



ADDISON. ioi 

wonder that their superstructure is every way answerable to them. 
If this shameless practice of the present age endures much longer, 
praise and reproach will cease to be motives of action in good 
men. 

There are certain periods of time in all governments when this 
inhuman spirit prevails. Italy was long torn in pieces by the 
Guelphs and Ghibellines, 1 and France by those who were for and 
against the League : 2 but it is very unhappy for a man to be 
born in such a stormy and tempestuous season. It is the restless 
ambition of artful men that thus breaks a people into factions, 
and draws several well-meaning persons to their interest by a 
specious concern for their country. How many honest minds 
are filled with uncharitable and barbarous notions, out of their 
zeal for the public good? What cruelties and outrages would 
they not commit against men of an adverse party, whom they 
would honor and esteem, if instead of considering them as they 
are represented, they knew them as they are? Thus are persons 
of the greatest probity seduced into shameful errors and prej- 
udices, and made bad men even by that noblest of principles, 
the love of their country. I cannot here forbear mentioning the 
famous Spanish proverb, " If there were neither fools nor knaves 
in the world, all people would be of one mind." 

For my own part, I could heartily wish that all honest men 
would enter into an association, for the support of one another 
against the endeavors of those whom they ought to look upon as 
their common enemies, whatsoever side they may belong to. 
Were there such an honest body of neutral forces, we should 
never see the worst of men in great figures of life, because they are 

1 The Guelphs and Ghibellines were originally two famous families in the 
twelfth century. The Guelphs represented the Pope's party ; and the Ghib- 
ellines, the imperial or civil party. " Ghibellines " was a name afterwards 
applied to Italian rebels; and "Guelphs," that applied to the government 
party of Italy. 

2 The Catholic League formed by the Duke of Guise to insure Catholic 
succession for the crown of Henry III. of France (1576). 



102 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

useful to a party ; nor the best unregarded, because they are 
above practicing those methods which would be grateful to their 
faction. We should then single every criminal out of the herd, 
and hunt him down, however formidable and overgrown he 
might appear: on the contrary, we should shelter distressed 
innocence, and defend virtue, however beset with contempt or 
ridicule, envy or defamation. In short, we should not any 
longer regard our fellow-subjects as Whigs or Tories, but should 
make the man of merit our friend, and the villain our enemy. 

C. 



POLITICAL DISSENSIONS. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 126. Wednesday, july 25, 171J.} 

" Tros Rictidiisve fnat, nullo discrimine /la&e&o." 1 

Virgil, ^Eneid, Lib. X. 108. 

IN my yesterday's paper I proposed, that the honest men of 
all parties should enter into a kind of association for the 
defense of one another, and the confusion of their common ene- 
mies. As it is designed this neutral body should act with a re- 
gard to nothing but truth and equity, and divest themselves of 
the little heats and prepossessions that cleave to parties of all 
kinds, I have prepared for them the following form of an asso- 
ciation, which may express their intentions in the most plain and 
simple manner. 

" We whose names are hereunto subscribed do solemnly declare, that we 
do in our consciences believe two and two make four ; and that we shall ad- 
judge any man whatsoever to be our enemy who endeavors to persuade us 
to the contrary. We are likewise ready to maintain, with the hazard of all 
that is near and dear to us, that six is less than seven in all times and all 
places ; and that ten will not be more three years hence than it is at present. 
We do also firmly declare, that it is our resolution as long as we live to call 
black black, and white white. And we shall upon all occasions oppose such 

1 " Rutulians, Trojans, are the same to me." 



ADDISON. 103 

persons that upon any day of the year shall call black white, or white black, 
with the utmost peril of our lives and fortunes." 

Were there such a combination of honest men, who without 
any regard to places would endeavor to extirpate all such furious 
zealots as would sacrifice one half of their country to the passion 
and interest of the other ; as also such infamous hypocrites, that 
are for promoting their own advantage, under color of the public 
good ; with all the profligate immoral retainers to each side, that 
have nothing to recommend them but an implicit submission to 
their leaders ; we should soon see that furious party spirit extin- 
guished, which may in time expose us to the derision and con- 
tempt of all the nations about us. 

A member of this society, that would thus carefully employ 
himself in making room for merit, by throwing down the worth- 
less and depraved part of mankind from those conspicuous sta- 
tions of life to which they have been sometimes advanced, and 
all this without any regard to his private interest, would be no 
small benefactor to his country. 

I remember to have read in Diodorus Siculus 1 an account of 
a very active little animal, which I think he calls the ichneumon, 
that makes it the whole business of his life to break the eggs of 
the crocodile, which he is always in search after. This instinct 
is the more remarkable, because the ichneumon never feeds upon 
the eggs he has broken, nor in any other way finds his account 
in them. Were it not for the incessant labors of this industrious 
animal, Egypt, says the historian, would be overrun with croco- 
diles ; for the Egyptians are so far from destroying those perni- 
cious creatures, that they worship them as gods. 

If we look into the behavior of ordinary partisans, we shall 
find them far from resembling this disinterested animal; and 
rather acting after the example of the wild Tartars, who are am- 
bitious of destroying a man of the most extraordinary parts and 

1 Diodorus Siculus (born in the first century before Christ) was an emi- 
nent Greek writer and historian. He wrote a history of the world, in forty 
books, only fifteen of which have been preserved. 



104 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

accomplishments, as thinking that upon his decease the same 
talents, whatever post they qualified him for, enter of course into 
his destroyer. 

As in the whole train of my speculations, I have endeavored 
as much as I am able to extinguish that pernicious spirit of pas- 
sion and prejudice, which rages with the same violence in all 
parties, I am still the more desirous of doing some good in this 
particular, because I observe that the spirit of party reigns more 
in the country than in the town. It here contracts a kind of 
brutality and rustic fierceness, to which men of a politer con- 
versation are wholly strangers. It extends itself even to the 
return of the bow and the hat ; and at the same time that the 
heads of parties preserve towards one another an outward show of 
good breeding, and keep up a perpetual intercourse of civilities, 
their tools that are dispersed in these outlying parts will not so 
much as mingle together at a cock-match. This humor fills the 
country with several periodical meetings of Whig jockeys and 
Tory fox-hunters ; not to mention the innumerable curses, frowns, 
and whispers it produces at a quarter-sessions. 

I do not know whether I have observed in any of my former 
papers, that my friends Sir Roger de Coverley and Sir Andrew 
Freeport are of different principles, the first of them inclined to 
the landed and the other to the moneyed interest. This humor 
is so moderate in each of them, that it proceeds no further than 
to an agreeable raillery, which very often diverts the rest of the 
Club. I find however that the knight is a much stronger Tory 
in the country than in town, which, as he has told me in my ear, 
is absolutely necessary for the keeping-up his interest. In all our 
journey from London to his house we did not so much as bait 
at a Whig inn ; or if by chance the coachman stopped at a 
wrong place, one of Sir Roger's servants would ride up to his 
master full speed, and whisper to him that the master of the 
house was against such a one in the last election. This often 
betrayed us into hard beds and bad cheer ; for we were not so 
inquisitive about the inn as the innkeeper; and, provided our 



ADDISON. 105 

landlord's principles were sound, did not take any notice of the 
staleness of his provisions. This I found still the more incon- 
venient, because the better the host was, the worse generally were 
his accommodations; the fellow knowing very well, that those 
who were his friends would take up with coarse diet and a hard 
lodging. For these reasons, all the while I was upon the road I 
dreaded entering into a house of any one that Sir Roger had 
applauded for an honest man. 

Since my stay at Sir Roger's in the country, I daily find more 
instances of this narrow party humor. Being upon a bowling- 
green 1 at a neighboring market town the other day, (for that is 
the place where the gentlemen of one side meet once a week) I 
observed a stranger among them of a better presence and gen- 
teeler behavior than ordinary; but was much surprised, that 
notwithstanding he was a very fair better, nobody would take him 
up. But upon inquiry I found, that he was one who had given 
a disagreeable vote in a former Parliament, for which reason 
there was not a man upon that bowling-green who would have 
so much correspondence with him as to win his money of him. 

Among other instances of this nature, I must not omit one 
which concerns myself. Will Wimble was the other day relating 
several strange stories that he had picked up nobody knows 
where of a certain great man ; and upon my staring at him, as 
one that was surprised to hear such things in the country which 
had never been so much as whispered in the town, Will stopped 
short in the thread of his discourse, and after dinner asked my 
friend Sir Roger in his ear if he was sure that I was not a 
fanatic. 

It gives me a serious concern to see such a spirit of dissension 
in the country ; not only as it destroys virtue and common sense, 
and renders us in a manner barbarians towards one another, but 
as it perpetuates our animosities, widens our breaches, and trans- 
mits our present passions and prejudices to our posterity. For 

1 A level piece of greensward or smooth ground for bowling, — a game 
known in England as early as the thirteenth century. 



106 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

my own part, I am sometimes afraid that I discover the seeds of 
a civil war in these our divisions ; and therefore cannot but be- 
wail, as in their first principles, the miseries and calamities of our 
children. C. 



SIR ROGER AND THE GYPSIES. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. ijo. Monday, July 30, 271T.] 

" Semperque recentes 
Convectare juvat prcedas, et vivere rap to." ! 

Virgil, iEneid, Lib. VII. 748. 

AS I was yesterday riding out in the fields with my friend Sir 
Jr\. Roger, we saw at a little distance from us a troop of 
gypsies. Upon the first discovery of them, my friend was in 
some doubt whether he should not exert the justice of the peace 
upon such a band of lawless vagrants ; but not having his clerk 
with him, who is a necessary counselor on these occasions, and 
fearing that his poultry might fare the worse for it, he let the 
thought drop : but at the same time gave me a particular account 
of the mischiefs they do in the country, in stealing people's goods 
and spoiling their servants. " If a stray piece of linen hangs 
upon a hedge," says Sir Roger, " they are sure to have it ; if the 
hog loses his way in the fields, it is ten to one but he becomes 
their prey ; our geese cannot live in peace for them ; if a man 
prosecutes them with severity, his hen-roost is sure to pay for it : 
they generally straggle into these parts about this time of the 
year ; and set the heads of our servant-maids so agog for hus- 
bands, that we do not expect to have any business done as it 
should be whilst they are in the country. I have an honest dairy- 
maid who crosses their hands with a piece of silver every sum- 
mer, and never fails being promised the handsomest young fellow 

1 Free translation : — 

"A plundering race, still eager to invade, 
On spoil they live, and make of theft a trade." 



ADDISON. 107 

in the parish for her pains. Your friend the butler has been fool 
enough to be seduced by them ; and, though he is sure to lose a 
knife, a fork, or a spoon every time his fortune is told him, gen- 
erally shuts himself up in the pantry with an old gypsy for above 
half an hour once in a twelvemonth. Sweethearts are the things 
they live upon, which they bestow very plentifully upon all those 
that apply themselves to them. You see now and then some 
handsome young jades among them : the slatterns have very 
often white teeth and black eyes." 

Sir Roger observing that I listened with great attention to his 
account of a people who were so entirely new to me, told me, 
that if I would they should tell us our fortunes. As I was very 
well pleased with the knight's proposal, we rid up and communi- 
cated our hands to them. A Cassandra 1 of the crew, after hav- 
ing examined my lines very diligently, told me, that I loved a 
pretty maid in a corner, that I was 'a good woman's man, with 
some other particulars which I do not think proper to relate. 
My friend Sir Roger alighted from his horse, and exposing his 
palm to two or three that stood by him, they crumpled it into all 
shapes, and diligently scanned every wrinkle that could be made 
in it ; when one of them, who was older and more sunburnt than 
the rest, told him, that he had a widow in his line of life : upon 
which the knight cried, " Go, go, you are an idle baggage ;" and 
at the same time smiled upon me. The gypsy finding he was 
not displeased in his heart, told him, after a further inquiry into 
his hand, that his true-love was constant, and that she should 
dream of him to-night: my old friend cried " Pish," and bid her 
go on. The gypsy told him that he was a bachelor, but would 
not be so long ; and that he was dearer to somebody than he 
thought : the knight still repeated, she was an idle baggage, and 
bid her go on. " Ah master," says the gypsy, " that roguish leer 
of yours makes a pretty woman's heart ache ; you ha'n't that 
simper about the mouth for nothing" — The uncouth gibberish 

1 Cassandra, daughter of Priam and Hecuba, was celebrated for her pro- 
phetic powers. During the siege of Troy she predicted its downfall. 



io8 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

with which all this was uttered like the darkness of an oracle, 
made us the more attentive to it. To be short, the knight left 
the money with her that he had crossed her hand with, and got 
up again on his horse. 

As we were riding away, Sir Roger told me, that he knew 
several sensible people who believed these gypsies now and then 
foretold very strange things ; and for half an hour together ap- 
peared more jocund than ordinary. In the height of his good 
humor, meeting a common beggar upon the road who was no 
conjuror, as he went to relieve him he found his pocket was 
picked: that being a kind of palmistry at which this race of 
vermin are very dexterous. 

I might here entertain my reader with historical remarks on 
this idle profligate people, who infest all the countries of Europe, 
and live in the midst of governments in a kind of commonwealth 
by themselves. But instead of entering into observations of this 
nature, I shall fill the remaining part of my paper with a story 
which is still fresh in Holland, and was printed in one of our 
monthly accounts about twenty years ago. "As the treksckuyt, or 
hackney-boat, which carries passengers from Leyden to Amster- 
dam, was putting off, a boy running along the side of the canal 
desired to be taken in ; which the master of the boat refused, be- 
cause the lad had not quite money enough to pay the usual fare. 
An eminent merchant being pleased with the looks of the boy, 
and secretly touched with compassion towards him, paid the 
money for him, and ordered him to be taken on board. Upon 
talking with him afterwards, he found that he could speak readily 
in three or four languages, and learned upon further examination 
that he had been stolen away when he was a child by a gypsy, 
and had rambled ever since with a gang of those strollers up and 
down several parts of Europe. It happened that the merchant, 
whose heart seems to have inclined towards the boy by a secret 
kind of instinct, had himself lost a child some years before. The 
parents, after a long search for him, gave him for drowned in 
one of the canals with which that country abounds ; and the 



ADDISON. 109 

mother was so afflicted at the loss of a fine boy, who was her 
only son, that she died for grief of it. Upon laying together all 
particulars, and examining the several moles and marts by which 
the mother used to describe the child when he was first missing, 
the boy proved to be the son of the merchant whose heart had 
so unaccountably melted at the sight of him. The lad was very 
well pleased to find a father who was so rich, and likely to leave 
him a good estate ; the father on the other hand was not a little 
delighted to see a son return to him, whom he had given for 
lost, with such a strength of constitution, sharpness of under- 
standing, and skill in languages." Here the printed story leaves 
off; but if I may give credit to reports, our linguist having re- 
ceived such extraordinary rudiments towards a good education, 
was afterwards trained up in everything that becomes a gentle- 
man ; wearing off by little and little all the vicious habits and 
practices that he had been used to in the course of his peregrina- 
tions :' nay, it is said, that he has since been employed in foreign 
courts upon national business, with great reputation to himself 
and honor to those who sent him, and that he has visited several 
countries as a public minister, in which he formerly wandered as 
a gypsy. C. 



THE SPECTATOR SUMMONED TO LONDON. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. iji. Tuesday, July 31, 1711.] 

"Ipsa? rursiim concedite sylvan 1 

Virgil, Eclogues, x. 63. 

IT is usual for a man who loves country sports to preserve 
the game in his own grounds, and divert himself upon those 
that belong to his neighbor. My friend Sir Roger generally goes 
two or three miles from his house, and gets into the frontiers of 
his estate, before he beats about in search of a hare or partridge, 

1 " Once more, ye woods, adieu." 



HO DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

on purpose to spare his own fields, where he is always Jcure of 
finding diversion, when the worst comes to the worst. Ii»y this 
means the breed about his house has time to increase and ' mul- 
tiply, besides that the sport is the more agreeable where the 
game is the harder to come at, and where it does not lie so thick 
as to produce any perplexity or confusion in the pursuit. For 
these reasons the country gentleman, like the fox, seldom preys 
near his own home. 

In the same manner I have made a month's excursion out of 
the town, which is the great field of game for sportsmen of my 
species, to try my fortune in the country, where I have started 
several subjects, and hunted them down, with some pleasure to 
myself, and I hope to others. I am here forced to use a great 
deal of diligence before I can spring anything to my mind, 
whereas in town, whilst I am following one character, it is ten to 
one but I am crossed in my way by another, and put up such a 
variety of odd creatures in both sexes, that they foil the scent of 
one another, and puzzle the chase. My greatest difficulty in the 
country is to find sport, and in town to choose it. In the mean 
time, as I have given a whole month's rest to the cities of Lon- 
don and Westminster, I promise myself abundance of new game 
upon my return thither. 

It is indeed high time for me to leave the country, since I find 
the whole neighborhood begin to grow very inquisitive after my 
name and character. My love of solitude, taciturnity, and par- 
ticular way of life, having raised a great curiosity in all these 
parts. 

The notions which have been framed of me are various ; some 
look upon me as very proud, some as very modest, and some as 
very melancholy. Will Wimble, as my friend the butler tells me, 
observing me very much alone, and extremely silent when I am 
in company, is afraid I have killed a man. The country people 
seem to suspect me for a conjurer ; and some of them hearing of 
the visit which I made to Moll White, will needs have it that Sir 
Roger has brought down a cunning man with him, to cure the 



ADDISON. 1 1 1 

old woman, and free the country from her charms. So that the 
character which I go under in part of the neighborhood, is what 
they here call a " white witch." 

A justice of peace, who lives about five miles off, and is not 
of Sir Roger's party, has it seems said twice or thrice at his table, 
that he wishes Sir Roger does not harbor a Jesuit in his house, 
and that he thinks the gentlemen of the country would do very 
well to make me give some account of myself. 

On the other side, some of Sir Roger's friends are afraid the 
old knight is imposed upon by a designing fellow, and as they 
have heard that he converses very promiscuously when he is in 
town, do not know but he has brought down with him some dis- 
carded Whig, that is sullen, and says nothing, because he is out 
of place. 

Such is the variety of opinions which are here entertained of 
me, so that I pass among some for a disaffected person, and 
among others for a popish priest ; among some for a wizard, and 
among others for a murderer ; and all this for no other reason, 
that I can imagine, but because I do not hoot and halloo and 
make a noise. It is true my friend Sir Roger tells them, that it 
is my way, and that I am only a philosopher ; but this will not 
satisfy them. They think there is more in me than he discovers, 
and that I do not hold my tongue for nothing. 

For these and other reasons I shall set out for London to- 
morrow, having found by experience that the country is not a 
place for a person of my temper, who does not love jollity, and 
what they call good neighborhood. A man that is out of humor 
when an unexpected guest breaks in upon him, and does not care 
for sacrificing an afternoon to every chance-comer ; that will be 
the master of his own time, and the pursuer of his own inclina- 
tions, makes but a very unsociable figure in this kind of life. I 
shall therefore retire into the town, if I may make use of that 
phrase, and get into the crowd again as fast as I can, in order 
to be alone. I can there raise what speculations I please upon 
others without being observed myself, and at the same time en- 



112 DE COVE RLE Y PAPERS. 

joy all the advantages of company with all the privileges r#f soli- 
tude. In the mean while, to finish the month and conclude 
these my rural speculations, I shall here insert a letter fronj my 
friend Will Honeycomb, who has not lived a month for these 
forty years out of the smoke of London, and rallies me after his 
way upon my country life. 

Dear Spec, — I suppose this letter will find thee picking of daisies, or 
smelling to a lock of hay, or passing away thy time in some innocent country 
diversion of the like nature. I have however orders from the Club to sum- 
mon thee up to town, being all of us cursedly afraid thou wilt not be able to 
relish our company, after thy conversations with Moll White and Will Wim- 
ble. Prithee don't send us up any more stories of a cock and a bull, nor 
frighten the town with spirits and witches. Thy speculations begin to smell 
confoundedly of woods and meadows. If thou dost not come up quickly, we 
shall conclude that thou art in love with one of Sir Roger's dairy-maids. 
Service to the knight. Sir Andrew is grown the cock of the Club since he 
left us, and if he does not return quickly will make every mother's son of us 
commonwealth's men. Dear Spec, 

Thine eternally, 

WILL HONEYCOMB. 



THE JOURNEY TO LONDON. 

[Steele, in Spectator, No. 132. Wednesday, August 1, lyn. ,] 

"Qui aut tempiis quid postulet non videt, aut plura loquitur, aut se ostentat, 
aut eonwi quibuscian est rationem non habet, is inept us esse dicitur." * 

Tully. 

HAVING notified to my good friend Sir Roger that I should 
set out for London the next day, his horses were ready at 
the appointed hour in the evening ; and attended by one of his 
grooms, I arrived at the county town at twilight, in order to be 
ready for the stagecoach the day following. As soon as we 

1 " That man may be called impertinent, who considers not the circum- 
stances of time, or engrosses the conversation, or makes himself the subject 
of his discourse, or pays no regard to the company he is in." 



STEELE. 113 

arrived at the inn, the servant who waited upon me, inquired of 
the chamberlain in my hearing what company he had for the 
coach? The fellow answered, "Mrs. Betty Arable, the great 
fortune, and the widow her mother; a recruiting officer (who 
took a place because they were to go ; ) young Squire Quickset 
her cousin (that her mother wished her to be married to ; ) 
Ephraim the Quaker, her guardian ; and a gentleman that had 
studied himself dumb from Sir Roger de Coverley's." I observed 
by what he said of myself, that according to his office he dealt 
much in intelligence ; and doubted not but there was some 
foundation for his reports of the rest of the company, as well as 
for the whimsical account he gave of me. The next morning at 
daybreak we were all called ; and I, who know my own natural 
shyness, and endeavor to be as little liable to be disputed with as 
possible, dressed immediately, that I might make no one wait. 
The first preparation for our setting-out was, that the captain's 
half-pike was placed near the coachman, and a drum behind the 
coach. In the mean time the drummer, the captain's equipage, 
was very loud, that none of the captain's things should be placed 
so as to be spoiled ; upon which his cloak-bag was fixed in the 
seat of the coach : and the captain himself, according to a fre- 
quent, though invidious behavior of military men, ordered his 
man to look sharp, that none but one of the ladies should have 
the place he had taken fronting to the coach-box. 

We were in some little time fixed in our seats, and sat with 
that dislike which people not too good-natured usually conceive 
of each other at first sight. The coach jumbled us insensibly 
into some sort of familiarity : and we had not moved above two 
miles, when the widow asked the captain what success he had in 
his recruiting? The officer, with a frankness he believed very 
graceful, told her, that indeed he had but very little luck, and 
had suffered much by desertion, therefore should be glad to end 
his warfare in the service of her or her fair daughter. " In a 
word," continued he, "I am a soldier, and to be plain is my 
character: you see me, madam, young, sound, and impudent; 



U4 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

take me yourself, widow, or give me to her, I will be wholly at 
your disposal. I am a soldier of fortune, ha!" This was fol- 
lowed by a vain laugh of his own, and a deep silence of all the 
rest of the company. I had nothing left for it but to fall fast 
asleep, which I did with all speed. "Come," said he, "resolve 
upon it, we will make a wedding at the next town : we will wake 
this pleasant companion who is fallen asleep, to be the brideman, 
and" (giving the Quaker a clap on the knee) he concluded, 
" this sly saint, who, I'll warrant, understands what's what as well 
as you or I, widow, shall give the bride as father." The Quaker, 
who happened to be a man of smartness, answered, " Friend, I 
take it in good part that thou hast given me the authority of a 
father over this comely and virtuous child ; and I must assure 
thee, that if I have the giving her, I shall not bestow her on 
thee. Thy mirth, friend, savoreth of folly : thou art a person of 
a light mind ; thy drum is a type of thee, it soundeth because it 
is empty. Verily, it is not from thy fullness, but thy emptiness 
that thou hast spoken this day. Friend, friend, we have hired 
this coach in partnership with thee, to carry us to the great city ; 
we cannot go any other way. This worthy mother must hear 
thee if thou wilt needs utter thy follies ; we cannot help it, friend, 
I say : if thou wilt we must hear thee : but if thou wert a man 
of understanding, thou wouldst not take advantage of thy coura- 
geous countenance to abash us children of peace. Thou art, 
thou sayest, a soldier ; give quarter to us, who cannot resist thee. 
Why didst thou fleer at our friend, who feigned himself asleep? 
he said nothing: but how dost thou know what he containeth? 
If thou speakest improper things in the hearing of this virtuous 
young virgin, consider it as an outrage against a distressed person 
that cannot get from thee : to speak indiscreetly what we are 
obliged to hear, by being hasped up with thee in this public 
vehicle, is in some degree assaulting on the high road." 

Here Ephraim paused, and the captain with a happy and un- 
common impudence (which can be convicted and support itself 
at the same time) cries, " Faith, friend, I thank thee ; I should 



STEELE. II 5 

have been a little impertinent if thou hadst not reprimanded me. 
Come, thou art, I see, a smoky old fellow, and I'll be very orderly 
the ensuing part of the journey. I was going to give myself 
airs, but, ladies, I beg pardon." 

The captain was so little out of humor, and our company was 
so far from being soured by this little ruffle, that Ephraim and 
he took a particular delight in being agreeable to each other for 
the future ; and assumed their different provinces in the conduct 
of the company. Our reckonings, apartments, and accommoda- 
tion, fell under Ephraim : and the captain looked to all disputes 
on the road, as the good behavior of our coachman, and the right 
Vfe had of taking place as going to London of all vehicles com- 
ing from thence. The occurrences we met with were ordinary, 
and very little happened which could entertain by the relation 
of them : but when I considered the company we were in, I took 
it for no small good fortune that the whole journey was not spent 
in impertinences, which to one part of us might be an entertain- 
ment, to the other a suffering. What therefore Ephraim said 
when we were almost arrived at London, had to me an air not 
only of good understanding but good breeding. Upon the young 
lady's expressing her satisfaction in the journey, and declaring 
how delightful it had been to her, Ephraim declared himself as 
follows : " There is no ordinary part of human life which ex- 
presseth so much a good mind, and a right inward man, as his 
behavior upon meeting with strangers, especially such as may 
seem the most unsuitable companions to him : such a man, when 
he falleth in the way with persons of simplicity and innocence, 
however knowing he may be in the ways of men, will not vaunt 
himself thereof ; but will the rather hide his superiority to them, 
that he may not be painful unto them. My good friend," (con- 
tinued he, turning to the officer) " thee and I are to part by and 
by, and peradventure we may never meet again : but be advised 
by a plain man ; modes and apparel are but trifles to the real 
man, therefore do not think such a man as thyself terrible for thy 
garb, nor such a one as me contemptible for mine. When two 



Il6 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

such as thee and I meet, with affections as we ought to have 
towards each other, thou shouldst rejoice to see my peaceable 
demeanor, and I should be glad to see thy strength and ability 
to protect me in it." T. 



A DEBATE AT THE CLUB. 

[Steele, in Spectator, No. 174. Wednesday, September ig, 171 /.] 

" H(zc memini et vie turn frustra contendere Thyrsin." ! 

Virgil, Eclogues, vii. 69. 

THERE is scarce anything more common than animosities 
between parties that cannot subsist but by their agreement : 
this was well represented in the sedition of the members of the 
human body in the old Roman fable. 2 It is often the case of 
lesser confederate states against a superior power, which are 
hardly held together, though their unanimity is necessary for 
their common safety : and this is always the case of the landed 
and trading interest of Great Britain : the trader is fed by the 
product of the land, and the landed man cannot be clothed but 
by the skill of the trader ; and yet those interests are ever jaiTing. 
We had last winter an instance of this at our Club, in Sir 
Roger de Coverley and Sir Andrew Freeport, between whom there 
is generally a constant, though friendly, opposition of opinions. 
It happened that one of the company, in an historical discourse, 
was observing, that "Carthaginian faith " was a proverbial phrase 
to intimate breach of leagues. Sir Roger said it could hardly be 
otherwise : that the Carthaginians were the greatest traders in 
the world ; and as gain is the chief end of such a people, they 



1 Free translation 



The whole debate in mem'ry I retain, 
When Thyrsis argued warmly, but in vain." 



2 Livy, History of Rome, Book II. chap. 32. 



STEELE. 117 

never pursue any other: the means to it are never regarded; 
they will, if it comes easily, get money honestly ; but if not, they 
will not scruple to attain it by fraud or cozenage : and indeed, 
what is the whole business of the trader's account, but to over- 
reach him who trusts to his memory? But were that not so, 
what can there great and noble be expected from him whose at- 
tention is forever fixed upon balancing his books, and watching 
over his expenses? And at best, let frugality and parsimony be 
the virtues of the merchant, how much is his punctual dealing 
below a gentleman's charity to the poor, or hospitality among his 
neighbors? 

Captain Sentry observed Sir Andrew very diligent in hearing 
Sir Roger, and had a mind to turn the discourse, by taking no- 
tice in general, from the highest to the lowest parts of human 
society, there was a secret, though unjust, way among men, of 
indulging the seeds of ill nature and envy, by comparing their 
own state of life to that of another, and grudging the approach 
of their neighbor to their own happiness ; and on the other side, 
he who is the less at his ease, repines at the other who, he thinks, 
has unjustly the advantage over him. Thus the civil and military 
lists look upon each other with much ill nature ; the soldier re- 
pines at the courtier's power, and the courtier rallies the soldier's 
honor ; or, to come to lower instances, the private men in the 
horse and foot of an army, the carmen and coachmen in the city 
streets, mutually look upon each other with ill will, when they 
are in competition for quarters or the way, in their respective 
motions. 

" It is very well, good captain," interrupted Sir Andrew : " you 
may attempt to turn the discourse if you think fit ; but I must 
however have a word or two with Sir Roger, who, I see, thinks 
he has paid me off, and been very severe upon the merchant. I 
shall not," continued he, " at this time remind Sir Roger of the 
great and noble monuments of charity and public spirit, which 
have been erected by merchants since the Reformation, but at 
present content myself with what he allows us, parsimony and 



n8 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

frugality. If it were consistent with the quality of so ancient a 
baronet as Sir Roger, to keep an account, or measure things by 
the most infallible way, that of numbers, he would prefer our 
parsimony to his hospitality. If to drink so many hogsheads is 
to be hospitable, we do not contend for the fame of that virtue ; 
but it would be worth while to consider, whether so many artifi- 
cers at work ten days together by my appointment, or so many 
peasants made merry on Sir Roger's charge, are the men more 
obliged? I believe the families of the artificers will thank me, 
more than the households of the peasants shall Sir Roger. Sir 
Roger gives to his men, but I place mine above the necessity or 
obligation of my bounty. I am in very little pain for the Roman 
proverb upon the Carthaginian traders ; the Romans were their 
professed enemies : I am only sorry no Carthaginian histories 
have come to our hands ; we might have been taught perhaps 
by them some proverbs against the Roman generosity, in fighting 
for and bestowing other people's goods. But since Sir Roger 
has taken occasion from an old proverb to be out of humor with 
merchants, it should be no offense to offer one not quite so old 
in their defense. When a man happens to break in Holland, they 
say of him that ' he has not kept true accounts.' This phrase, 
perhaps, among us, would appear a soft or humorous way of 
speaking, but with that exact nation it bears the highest reproach ; 
for a man to be mistaken in the calculation of his expense, in 
his ability to answer future demands, or to be impertinently san- 
guine in putting his credit to too great adventure, are all in- 
stances of as much infamy as with gayer nations to be failing in 
courage or common honesty. 

" Numbers are so much the measure of everything that is 
valuable, that it is not possible to demonstrate the success of any 
action, or the prudence of any undertaking, without them. I say 
this in answer to what Sir Roger is pleased to say, ' that little 
that is truly noble can be expected from one who is ever poring 
on his cash-book, or balancing his accounts.' When I have my 
returns from abroad, I can tell to a shilling, by the help of num- 



STEELE. 119 

bers, the profit or loss by my adventure ; but I ought also to be 
able to show that I had reason for making it, either from my own 
experience or that of other people, or from a reasonable presump- 
tion that my returns will be sufficient to answer my expense and 
hazard ; and this is never to be done without the skill of num- 
bers. For instance, if I am to trade to Turkey, I ought be- 
forehand to know the demand of our manufactures there, as well 
as of their silks in England, and the customary prices that are 
given for both in each country. I ought to have a clear knowl- 
edge of these matters beforehand, that I may presume upon 
sufficient returns to answer the charge of the cargo I have fitted 
out, the freight and assurance out and home, the custom to the 
Queen, and the interest of my own money, and besides all these 
expenses a reasonable profit to myself. Now what is there of 
scandal in this skill? What has the merchant done, that he 
should be so little in the good graces of Sir Roger? He throws 
down no man's inclosures, and tramples upon no man's corn ; he 
takes nothing from the industrious laborer; he pays the poor 
man for his work ; he communicates his profit with mankind ; 
by the preparation of his cargo and the manufacture of his returns, 
he furnishes employment and subsistence to greater numbers than 
the richest nobleman ; and even the nobleman is obliged to him 
for finding out foreign markets for the produce of his estate, and 
for making a great addition to his rents ; and yet 'tis certain, 
that none of all these things could be done by him without the 
exercise of his skill in numbers. 

" This is the economy of the merchant ; and the conduct of 
the gentleman must be the same, unless by scorning to be the 
steward, he resolves the steward shall be the gentleman. The 
gentleman, no more than the merchant, is able, without the help 
of numbers, to account for the success of any action, or the pru- 
dence of any adventure. If, for instance, the chase is his whole 
adventure, his only returns must be the stag's horns in the great 
hall, and the fox's nose upon the stable door. Without doubt 
Sir Roger knows the full value of these returns ; and if before- 



120 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

hand he had computed the charges of the chase, a gentleman of 
his discretion would certainly have hanged up all his dogs, he 
would never have brought back so many fine horses to the kennel, 
he would never have gone so often, like a blast, over fields of 
corn. If such too had been the conduct of all his ancestors, he 
might truly have boasted at this day, that the antiquity of his 
family had never been sullied by a trade ; a merchant had never 
been permitted wijh his whole estate to purchase a room for his 
picture in the gallery of the Coverleys, or to claim his descent 
from the maid of honor. But 'tis very happy for Sir Roger that 
the merchant paid so dear for his ambition. Tis the misfortune 
of many other gentlemen to turn out of the seats of their ances- 
tors, to make way for such new masters as have been more exact 
in their accounts than themselves ; and certainly he deserves the 
estate a great deal better, who has got it by his industry, than he 
who has lost it by his negligence." T. 



SIR ROGER IN LONDON. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 26g. Tuesday, January 8, ijii-j2^\ 

" ALvo rarissima nostro 
Simplicitas." 1 

Ovid, Ars Amatoria, Lib. I. 241. 

I WAS this morning surprised with a great knocking at the 
door, when my landlady's daughter came up to me, and 
told me, that there was a man below desired to speak with me. 
Upon my asking her who it was, she told me it was a very grave 
elderly person, but that she did not know his name. I immedi- 
ately went down to him, and found him to be the coachman of 
my worthy friend Sir Roger de Coverley. He told me that his 
master came to town last night, and would be glad to take a turn 

1 Dryden's translation: " Most rare is now our old simplicity." 



ADDISON. I2i 

with me in Gray's Inn 1 walks. As I was wondering in myself 
what had brought Sir Roger to town, not having lately received 
any letter from him, he told me that his master was come up 
to get a sight of Prince Eugene, 2 and that he desired I would 
immediately meet him. 

I was not a little pleased with the curiosity of the old knight, 
though I did not much wonder at it, having heard him say more 
than once in private discourse, that he looked upon Prince 
Eugenio (for so the knight always calls him) to be a greater man 
than Scanderbeg. 3 

I was no sooner come into Gray's Inn walks, but I heard my 
friend upon the terrace hemming twice or thrice to himself with 
great vigor, for he loves to clear his pipes in good air (to make 
use of his own phrase) and is not a little pleased with any one 
who takes notice of the strength which he still exerts in his 
morning hems. 

I was touched with a secret joy at the sight of the good old 
man, who before he saw me was engaged in conversation with a 
beggar-man that had asked an alms of him. I could hear my 
friend chide him for not finding out some work ; but at the same 
time saw him put his hand in his pocket and give him sixpence. 

Our salutations were very hearty on both sides, consisting of 
many kind shakes of the hand, and several affectionate looks 
which we cast upon one another. After which the knight told 
me my good friend his chaplain was very well, and much at my 
service, and that the Sunday before he had made a most incom- 
parable sermon out of Dr. Barrow. " I have left," says he, " all 

1 See Note 2, p. 20. 

2 Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736) was a celebrated general, serving 
principally in Austria and in the wars of the Spanish Succession. He, with 
the Duke of Marlborough, commanded the allies in the battle of Blenheim. 
He afterwards drove the French out of Italy. 

3 Scanderbeg, i.e., Iskander (Alexander) Bey, the Turkish name and 
title of George Castriota (1404-67), was a celebrated Albanian prince. He 
renounced Mohammedanism, and was principally engaged at war with the 
Turks for Albanian independence. 



122 DE COVE RLE Y PAPERS. 

my affairs in his hands, and being willing to lay an obligation 
upon him, have deposited with him thirty marks, to be distributed 
among his poor parishioners." 

He then proceeded to acquaint me with the welfare of Will 
Wimble. Upon which he put his hand into his fob and presented 
me in his name with a tobacco-stopper, telling me that Will had 
been busy all the beginning of the winter in turning great quan- 
tities of them ; and that he made a present of one to every gen- 
tleman in the country who has good principles, and smokes. He 
added, that poor Will was at present under great tribulation, for 
that Tom Touchy had taken the law of him for cutting some 
hazel sticks out of one of his hedges. 

Among other pieces of news which the knight brought from 
his country seat, he informed me that Moll White was dead ; and 
that about a month after her death the wind was so very high, 
that it blew down the end of one of his barns. " But for my 
own part," says Sir Roger, " I do not think that the old woman 
had any hand in it." 

He afterwards fell into an account of the diversions which had 
passed in his house during the holidays ; for Sir Roger, after the 
laudable custom of his ancestors, always keeps open house at 
Christmas. I learned from him that he had killed eight fat hogs 
for the season, that he had dealt about his chines very liberally 
amongst his neighbors, and that in particular he had sent a string 
of hog's-puddings 1 with a pack of cards 2 to every poor family in 
the parish. " I have often thought," says Sir Roger, " it happens 
very well that Christmas should fall out in the middle of the win- 
ter. It is the most dead uncomfortable time of the year, when 
the poor people would suffer very much from their poverty and 
cold, if they had not good cheer, warm fires, and Christmas gam- 
bols to support them. I love to rejoice their poor hearts at this 
season, and to see the whole village merry in my great hall. I 

1 Sausages. 

2 Playing cards was one of the chief amusements during the evenings at 
Christmas-tide in old England. 



ADDISON. 123 

allow a double quantity of malt to my small-beer, and set it 
a-running for twelve days to every one that calls for it. I have 
always a piece of cold beef and a mince pie upon the table, and 
am wonderfully pleased to see my tenants pass away a whole 
evening in playing their innocent tricks, and smutting one 
another. Our friend Will Wimble is as merry as any of them, 
and shows a thousand roguish tricks upon these occasions." 

I was very much delighted with the reflection of my old friend, 
which carried so much goodness in it. He then launched out 
into the praise of the late act of Parliament for securing the 
Church of England, 1 and told me, with great satisfaction, that he 
believed it already began to take effect, for that a rigid Dissenter, 
who chanced to dine at his house on Christmas Day, had been 
observed to eat very plentifully of his plum porridge. 

After having dispatched all our country matters, Sir Roger 
made several inquiries concerning the Club, and particularly of 
his old antagonist Sir Andrew Freeport. He asked me with a 
kind of smile, whether Sir Andrew had not taken advantage of 
his absence, to vent among them some of his republican doc- 
trines ; but soon after gathering up his countenance into a more 
than ordinary seriousness, " Tell me truly," says he, " don't you 
think Sir Andrew had a hand in the Pope's procession" 2 — but 
without giving me time to answer him, " Well, well," says he, " I 
know you are a wary man, and do not care to talk of public 
matters." 

The knight then asked me, if I had seen Prince Eugenio, and 
made me promise to get him a stand in some convenient place 
where he might have a full sight of that extraordinary man, 
whose presence does so much honor to the British nation. He 
dwelt very long on the praises of this great general, and I found 

1 This refers to one of the numerous laws made by England to protect her 
state Church, in this particular case against occasional conformity. 

2 The anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth, Nov. 17, was for 
many years celebrated by the citizens of London by a procession, which was 
headed by an effigy of the Pope. After the parade the figure was burned. 



124 DB COVERLEY PAPERS. 

that, since I was with him in the country, he had drawn many 
observations together out of his reading in Baker's " Chronicle," 1 
and other authors, who always lie in his hall window, which very 
much redound to the honor of this prince. 

Having passed away the greatest part of the morning in hear- 
ing the knight's reflections, which were partly private, and partly 
political, he ^sked me if I would smoke a pipe with him over a 
dish of coffee at Squires's. 2 As I love the old man, I take delight 
in complying with everything that is agreeable to him, and ac- 
cordingly waited on him to the coffee-house, where his venerable 
figure drew upon us the eyes of the whole room. He had no 
sooner seated himself at the upper end of the high table, but he 
called for a clean pipe, a paper of tobacco, a dish of coffee, a wax 
candle, and the Supplement 3 with such an air of cheerfulness and 
good humor, that all the boys in the coffee-room (who seemed to 
take pleasure in serving him) were at once employed on his sev- 
eral errands, insomuch that nobody else could come at a dish of 
tea, till the knight had got all his conveniences about him. 

L. 

1 Baker's Chronicle of the Kings of England (1641). The author, Sir 
Richard Baker ( 1 568-1645), was for many years confined in Fleet Prison, 
and there turned author. Of his Chronicle, he assures us, that, if all other 
chronicles were lost, this only would be sufficient to supply all necessary and 
accurate information. 

2 Squires's Coffee House (Fulwards Rents) was named for the owner, 
and was much patronized by the benchers and students of Gray's Inn. 

3 This reference is evidently to a paper published at that period. 



ADDISON. 125 

SIR ROGER IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. j2g. Tuesday, March 18, 1711-72.] 

"Ire tamen restat, A r uma quo devenit et ancus." * 

Horace, Lib. I. Ep. vi. 27. 

MY friend Sir Roger de Coverley told me t'other night, that 
he had been reading my paper upon Westminster Abbey, 2 
in which, says he, there are a great many ingenious fancies. He 
told me at the same time, that he observed I had promised 
another paper upon the tombs, and that he should be glad to go 
and see them with me, not having visited them since he had read 
history. I could not at first imagine how this came into the 
knight's head, till I recollected that he had been very busy all 
last summer upon Baker's " Chronicle," which he has quoted sev- 
eral times in his disputes with Sir Andrew Freeport since his last 
coming to town. Accordingly I promised to call upon him the 
next morning, that we might go together to the Abbey. 

I found the knight under his butler's hands, who always shaves 
him. He was no sooner dressed, than he called for a glass of the 
Widow Trueby's water, which he told me he always drank before 

1 Free translation : — 

" With Ancus, and with Numa, kings of Rome, 
We must decend into the silent tomb." 

2 Westminster Abbey, the most celebrated religious edifice in England, 
stands on the bank of the Thames, in London. A church was built here by 
King Sebert in the seventh century, which was replaced with a stone edifice 
by Edward the Confessor in the middle of the eleventh century. Much of 
the existing building was put up by Henry III. in the thirteenth century; 
but important additions and alterations were made at intervals down to the 
time of Sir Christopher Wren (1700), who designed the two great western 
towers. The Abbey has been the place of coronation of the British sover- 
eigns since the time of Harold (1066), and it contains the tombs of most of 
them, as well as of very many of England's greatest men, — soldiers, philos- 
ophers, poets, and scientists. 



126 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

he went abroad. He recommended me to a dram of it at the 
same time, with so much heartiness, that I could not forbear 
drinking it. As soon as I had got it down, I found it very un- 
palatable ; upon which the knight observing that I had made sev- 
eral wry faces, told me that he knew I should not like it at first, 
but that it was the best thing in the world against the stone or 
gravel. 

I could have wished indeed that he had acquainted me with 
the virtues of it sooner ; but it was too late to complain, and I 
knew what he had done was out of good will. Sir Roger told 
me further, that he looked upon it to be very good for a man 
whilst he staid in town, to keep off infection, and that he got 
together a quantity of it upon the first news of the sickness being 
at Dantzic: 1 when of a sudden turning short to one of his ser- 
vants, who stood behind him, he bid him call a hackney-coach, 
and take care it was an elderly man that drove it. 

He then resumed his discourse upon Mrs. Trueby's water, tell- 
ing me that the Widow Trueby was one who did more good 
than all the doctors and apothecaries in the county : that she 
distilled every poppy that grew within five miles of her ; that she 
distributed her water gratis among all sorts of people ; to which 
the knight added, that she had a very great jointure, and that the 
whole country would fain have it a match between him and her ; 
" and truly," says Sir Roger, " if I had not been engaged, per- 
haps I could not have done better." 

His discourse was broken off by his man's telling him he had 
called a coach. Upon our going to it, after having cast his eye 
upon the wheels, he asked the coachman if his axle-tree was 
good; upon the fellow's telling him he would warrant it, the 
knight turned to me, told me he looked like an honest man, and 
went in without further ceremony. 

We had not gone far, when Sir Roger popping out his head, 
called the coachman down from his box, and upon his present- 

i A town of North Germany, built in 1165. This refers to a plague which 
visited it in 1 709. 



ADDISON. 127 

ing himself at the window, asked him if he smoked ; as I was 
considering what this would end in, he bid him stop by the way 
at any good tobacconist's, and take in a roll of their best Vir- 
ginia. 1 Nothing material happened in the remaining part of our 
journey, till we were set down at the west end of the Abbey. 

As we went up the body of the church, the knight pointed at 
the trophies upon one of the new monuments, and cried out, "A 
brave man, I warrant him! " Passing afterwards by Sir Cloudsly 
Shovel, 2 he flung his hand that way, and cried " Sir Cloudsly 
Shovel! a very gallant man!" As we stood before Busby's 
tomb, 3 the knight uttered himself again after the same manner, 
" Dr. Busby, a great man! he whipped my grandfather; a very 
great man! I should have gone to him myself, if I had not been 
a blockhead ; a very great man ! " 

We were immediately conducted into the little chapel on the 
right hand. Sir Roger planting himself at our historian's elbow, 
was very attentive to everything he said, particularly to the 
account he gave us of the lord who had cut off the King of 
Morocco's head. Among several other figures, he was very well 
pleased to see the statesman Cecil 4 upon his knees; and, con- 
cluding them all to be great men, was conducted to the figure 
which, represents that martyr to good housewifery, who died by 
the prick of a needle. Upon our interpreter's telling us, that 
she was a maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth, 5 the knight was 

1 Tobacco. 

2 Sir Cloudsly Shovel (1650-1707) was a distinguished English admiral, 
knighted for his services at Bantry Bay, and prominent in the battle of La 
Hogue. 

3 Dr. Richard Busby (1606-95) was head master of Westminster School 
for fifty-eight years (1638-95). The recollection of his severity long in- 
vested his monument in Westminster Abbey with a peculiar awe. 

4 Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury (1 560-1612), an able English statesman, 
was prime-minister under James I., and Lord Treasurer of England. 

5 Queen Elizabeth (1 533-1603), the most famous of England's queens, 
reigned from 1558 to 1603. She was the daughter of Henry VIII. and Anne 
Boleyn. 



128 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

very inquisitive into her name and family ; and after having re- 
garded her finger for some time, " I wonder," says he, " that Sir 
Richard Baker has said nothing of her in his ' Chronicle.' " 

We were then conveyed to the two coronation chairs, where 
my old friend, after having heard that the stone underneath the 
most ancient of them, which was brought from Scotland, was 
called Jacob's Pillar, 1 sat himself down in the chair ; and looking 
like the figure of an old Gothic king, asked our interpreter, what 
authority they had to say, that Jacob had ever been in Scotland? 
The fellow, instead of returning him an answer, told him, that 
he hoped his honor would pay his forfeit. I could observe Sir 
Roger a little ruffled upon being thus trepanned ; but our guide 
not insisting upon his demand, the knight soon recovered his 
good humor, and whispered in my ear, that if Will Wimble were 
with us, and saw those two chairs, it would go hard but he would 
get a tobacco-stopper out of one or t'other of them. 

Sir Roger, in the next place, laid his hand upon Edward 
III.'s 2 sword, and leaning upon the pommel of it, gave us the 
whole history of the Black Prince ; concluding, that in Sir Rich- 
ard Baker's opinion, Edward III. was one of the greatest princes 
that ever sat upon the English throne. 

1 Jacob's Pillar or stone, a fragment of sandstone rock inclosed in the cor- 
onation chair at Westminster. It is of the same geological formation as the 
rock of the west coast of Scotland, and probably came from that locality. It 
formed part of the coronation chair at Scone, Scotland, from the ninth cen- 
tury until Edward I. captured it and transferred it to Westminster. Its 
name is due to a myth connected with it as early as the fourteenth century, 
which held that this rock was part of the pillar on which Jacob or Abraham 
slept at Bethel ; that it was transported to Egypt, and thence to Sicily or 
Spain, in Moses' time ; that from Spain it was carried off by Simon Brech, 
the son of Milo, to Ireland, where, on the sacred hill of Tara, it became " Lia 
Fail," or the Stone of Destiny. Fergus, the founder of the Scottish mon- 
archy, is supposed to have removed it to Dunstaffnage, Scotland, whence 
Kenneth II. removed it to Scone, A.D. 840. 

2 Edward III. (1312-77), the son of Edward II., was proclaimed king in 
1327. He won the battle of Crecy in 1347. He was the father of the Black 
Prince, the hero of the battle of Poitiers. 



ADDISON. 129 

We were then shown Edward the Confessor's 1 tomb ; upon 
which Sir Roger acquainted us, that he was the first who touched 
for the evil; 2 and afterwards Henry IV. 's, 3 upon which he shook 
his head, and told us there was fine reading in the casualties in 
that reign. 

Our conductor then pointed to that monument where there is 
the figure of one of our English kings without a head ; and upon 
giving us to know, that the head, which was of beaten silver, had 
been stolen away several years since : " Some Whig, I'll warrant 
you," says Sir Roger ; " you ought to lock up your kings better ; 
they will carry off the body too, if you don't take care." 

The glorious names of Henry V. 4 and Queen Elizabeth gave 
the knight great opportunities of shining, and of doing justice to 
Sir Richard Baker, who, as our knight observed with some sur- 
prise, had a great many kings in him, whose monuments he had 
not seen in the Abbey. 

For my own part, I could not but be pleased to see the knight 
show such an honest passion for the glory of his country, and 
such a respectful gratitude to the memory of its princes. 

I must not omit, that the benevolence of my good old friend, 
which flows out towards every one he converses with, made him 
very kind to our interpreter, whom he looked upon as an ex- 
traordinary man ; for which reason he shook him by the hand at 

1 Edward the Confessor (1004-66), son of Ethelred, became King of the 
Anglo-Saxons in 1042. 

2 Scrofula was formerly called " King's Evil," because it was supposed 
that the disease could be cured by the touch of a truly anointed king. 

3 Henry IV. of England (1366-1413) was the son of John of Gaunt. He 
usurped the throne in 1399. He imprisoned his predecessor, Richard II., and 
is supposed to have ordered his murder. He kept the legitimate heir, young 
Edward Mortimer, in custody for fourteen years. He passed a statute for 
burning heretics, and was constantly brawling with his nobles, his neighbors 
in Scotland, France, and with his son, afterwards Henry V. 

4 Henry V. of England (1388-1422), oldest son of Henry IV., distin- 
guished himself at the battle of Shrewsbury, and defeated the French at Agin- 
court. He married Catherine, daughter of Charles VI. 



130 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

parting, telling him, that he should be very glad to see him at his 
lodgings in Norfolk Buildings, and talk over these matters with 
him more at leisure. L. 



SIR ROGER AND BEARDS. 

[Budgell, in Spectator, No. jji. Thursday, March 20, ijii-I2.\ 

" Stolidam pr<zbet tibi vellere barbam." 1 

Persius, Sat. ii. 28. 

WHEN I was last with my friend Sir Roger in Westminster 
Abbey, I observed that he stood longer than ordinary be- 
fore the bust of a venerable old man. I was at a loss to guess 
the reason of it, when after some time he pointed to the figure, 
and asked me if I did not think that our forefathers looked much 
wiser in their beards than we do without them? " For my part," 
says he, " when I am walking in my gallery in the country, and 
see my ancestors, who many of them died before they were of 
my age, I cannot forbear regarding them as so many old patri- 
archs, and at the same time looking upon myself as an idle smock- 
faced young fellow. I love to see your Abrahams, your Isaacs, 
and your Jacobs, as we have them in old pieces of tapestry, with 
beards below their girdles, that cover half the hangings." The 
knight added, if I would recommend beards in one of my papers, 
and endeavor to restore human faces to their ancient dignity, 
that upon a month's warning he would undertake to lead up the 
fashion himself in a pair of whiskers. 

I smiled at my friend's fancy ; but after we parted, could not 
forbear reflecting on the metamorphoses our faces have undergone 
in this particular. 

The beard, conformable to the notion of my friend Sir Roger, 
was for many ages looked upon as the type of wisdom. Lucian 2 

1 " Holds out his foolish beard for thee to pluck." 

2 Lucian (born about A.D. 120) was one of the wittiest and most origi- 



BUDGELL. 131 

more than once rallies the philosophers of his time, who en- 
deavored to rival one another in beard ; and represents a learned 
man who stood for a professorship in philosophy, as unqualified 
for it by the shortness of his beard. 

yElian, 1 in his account of Zoilus, 2 the pretended critic, who 
wrote against Homer 3 and Plato, 4 and thought himself wiser than 
all who had gone before him, tells us that this Zoilus had a very 
long beard that hung down upon his breast, but no hair upon his 
head, which he always kept close shaved, regarding, it seems, the 
hairs of his head as so many suckers, which if they had been 
suffered to grow, might have drawn away the nourishment from 
his chin, and by that means have starved his beard. 

I have read somewhere that one of the popes refused to accept 
an edition of a saint's works, which were presented to him, be- 
cause the saint in his effigies before the book, was drawn without 
a beard. 

We see by these instances what homage the world has formerly 
paid to beards ; and that a barber was not then allowed to make 
those depredations on the faces of the learned, which have been 
permitted him of later years. 

Accordingly several wise nations have been so extremely jeal- 
ous of the least ruffle offered to their beard, that they seem to 
have fixed the point of honor principally in that part. The 

nal of Greek writers. He lived at Athens. His principal works are the 
Dialogues. 

1 yElian, a native of Praeneste, Italy, lived in the early part of the third 
century. Although an Italian by birth, he wrote Greek. His works are 
scrappy and gossiping, and cover a great variety of subjects, — historical, bio- 
graphical, antiquarian, narratives, and anecdotes. 

2 A Greek critic and grammarian (of uncertain date), noted chiefly for his 
criticism of Homer. 

3 Homer (born about 1000 B.C.), author of The Iliad and The Odyssey, 
was the greatest poet of antiquity and the most celebrated writer that ever 
lived. 

4 Plato (born about 430 B.C.), a pupil of Socrates, was one of the most 
illustrious Greek philosophers of all time. He wrote the famous Dialogues. 



132 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

Spaniards were wonderfully tender in this particular. Don Que- 
vedo, 1 in his third " Vision on the Last Judgment," has carried 
the humor very far, when he tells us that one of his vainglorious 
countrymen, after having received sentence, was taken into cus- 
tody by a couple of evil spirits ; but that his guides happening to 
disorder his mustaches, they were forced to recompose them with 
a pair of curling-irons before they could get him to file off. 

If we look into the history of our own nation, we shall find 
that the beard flourished in the Saxon Heptarchy, but was very 
much discouraged under the Norman line. It shot out, however, 
from time to time, in several reigns under different shapes. The 
last effort it made seems to have been in Queen Mary's 2 days, as 
the curious reader may find, if he pleases to peruse the figures 
of Cardinal Pole, 3 and Bishop Gardiner ; 4 though at the same 
time, I think it may be questioned, if zeal against popery has 
not induced our Protestant painters to extend the beards of these 
two persecutors beyond their natural dimensions, in order to 
make them appear the more terrible. 

I find but few beards worth taking notice of in the reign of 
King James I. 5 

1 Francisco Gomez Quevedo (i 580-1645) was a Spanish author and 
satirist. He wrote both prose and verse. His best-known book is Visions. 

2 Queen Mary, or" Bloody Mary" (1516-58), reigned in England from 
1553 to 1558. She was the daughter of Henry VIII. and Catharine of 
Aragon. 

3 Cardinal Reginald Pole (1500-55) was a celebrated English cardinal and 
scholar. He lost favor with Henry VIII. by opposing the divorce of Catha- 
rine of Aragon. He was restored to power by Queen Mary, and succeeded 
Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury. 

4 Bishop Stephen Gardiner (1483— 1555) was an English prelate and states- 
man. A friend to Henry VIII., he became Bishop of Winchester. Under 
Queen Mary he became chancellor of England, and the chief foe of Protest- 
antism. 

5 James I. (1 566-1625) of England was James VI. of Scotland, son of 
Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley. He became King of England upon 
the death of Elizabeth. He came to the Scottish throne when only a year 
old, and thus reigned fifty-eight years, twenty-two of them in England. 



BUDGELL. 133 

During the civil wars there appeared one, which makes too 
great a figure in story to be passed over in silence ; I mean that 
of the redoubted Hudibras, 1 an account of which Butler has 
transmitted to posterity in the following lines : — 

"His tawny beard was th' equal grace 
Both of his wisdom, and his face ; 
In cut and dye so like a tile, 
A sudden view it would beguile : 
The upper part thereof was whey, 
The nether orange mixt with gray." 

The whisker continued for some time among us after the ex- 
piration of beards ; but this is a subject which I shall not here 
enter upon, having discussed it at large in a distinct treatise, 
which I keep by me in manuscript, upon the mustache. 

If my friend Sir Roger's project, of introducing beards, should 
take effect, I fear the luxury of the present age would make it a 
very expensive fashion. There is no question but the beaus 
would soon provide themselves with false ones of the lightest 
colors, and the most immoderate lengths. A fair beard, of the 
tapestry size Sir Roger seems to approve, could not come under 
twenty guineas. The famous golden beard of ^Esculapius 2 would 
hardly be more valuable than one made in the extravagance 
of the fashion. 

Besides, we are not certain that the ladies would not come into 
the mode, when they take the air on horseback. They already 
appear in hats and feathers, coats and periwigs ; and I see no 

1 The title of a famous satire on the Puritans, by Samuel Butler (1612- 
80), published in London in three parts, 1663, 1664, 1678. Many well- 
known people were satirized. The hero, Hudibras, a Presbyterian, supposed 
to characterize Sir Samuel Lecke or Sir Henry Roswell, sets out on an ex- 
pedition against the follies and amusements of his time. 

2 In Greek mythology, the god of medicine, supposed to be the son of 
Apollo and Coronis. According to story he was annihilated by Jupiter with a 
bolt of lightning because he had restored a number of persons to life. yEscu- 
lapius was worshiped very generally throughout all Greece, the principal seat 
of his shrine being Epidaurus. Serpents were connected with his worship. 



134 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

reason why we [may] not suppose that they would have their 
riding-beards on the same occasion. 

I may give the moral of this discourse in another paper. 

X. 



SIR ROGER AT THE PLAY. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. jjj. Tuesday, March 23, 1712.] 

" Respicere exe?nplar vita moruttique jubebo 
Doctum imitatorem, et veras hinc ducere voces." * 

Horace, Ars Poetica, v. 327. 

MY friend Sir Roger de Coverley, when we last met together 
at the Club, told me, that he had a great mind to see the 
new tragedy 2 with me, assuring me at the same time, that he 
had not been at a play these twenty years. " The last I saw," 
said Sir Roger, " was ' The Committee,' 8 which I should not have 
gone to neither, had not I been told beforehand that it was a 
good Church-of- England comedy." He then proceeded to in- 
quire of me who this distressed mother was ; and upon hearing 
that she was Hector's 4 widow, he told me that her husband was 
a brave man, and that when he was a schoolboy he had read his 
life at the end of the dictionary. My friend asked me, in the 
next place, if there would not be some danger in coming home 

1 Francis's translation : — 

" Keep nature's great original in view, 
And thence the living images pursue." 

2 The Distressed Mother, by Ambrose Philips (1671-1749), a play 
founded on the Andromaque of Racine. 

3 A comedy ridiculing the puritanical party, by Sir Robert Howard, pub- 
lished in 1665. 

4 The Trojan hero, oldest son of Priam and Hecuba, and the husband 
of Andromache. He was the most valiant defender of Troy. Killed by 
Achilles. 



ADDISON. 135 

late, in case the Mohocks 1 should be abroad. "I assure you," 
says he, "I thought I had fallen into their hands last night ; for 
I observed two or three lusty black men that followed me half- 
way up Fleet Street, 2 and mended their pace behind me, in pro- 
portion as I put on to get away from them. You must know," 
continued the knight with a smile, ".I fancied they had a mind 
to hunt me ; for I remember an honest gentleman in my neigh- 
borhood, who was served such a trick in King Charles II.'s 3 time ; 
for which reason he has not ventured himself in town ever since. 
I might have shown them very good sport, had this been their 
design ; for as I am an old fox-hunter, I should have turned and 
dodged, and have played them a thousand tricks they had never 
seen in their lives before." Sir Roger added, that "if these gen- 
tlemen had any such intention, they did not succeed very well in 
it : for I threw them out," says he, " at the end of Norfolk Street, 
where I doubled the corner, and got shelter in my lodgings be- 
fore they could imagine what was become of me. However," 
says the knight, "if Captain Sentry will make one with us to-mor- 
row night, and if you will both of you call upon me about four 
o'clock, that we may be at the house before it is full, I will have 
my own coach in readiness to attend you, for John tells me he 
has got the fore-wheels mended." 

The captain, who did not fail to meet me there at the ap- 
pointed hour, bid Sir Roger fear nothing, for that he had put on 
the same sword which he made use of at the battle of Steenkirk. 4 
Sir Roger's servants, and among the rest my old friend the but- 

1 The slang name of a gang of London ruffians. The name is probably 
corrupted from that of the Mohawk Indians. 

2 One of the most familiar thoroughfares in London. It runs from Lud- 
gate Hill to the Strand. It derived its name from a stream, the Fleet. In 
1228 it was called Fleet Bridge Street. 

3 Charles II. (1630-85) was the oldest son of Charles I. He was de- 
feated at the battle of Worcester (1 651) by Cromwell. He escaped to France, 
where he remained during Cromwell's ascendency. He was restored to the 
English throne May, 1660. 

4 Battle of Steenkirk, or Enghien, a town in southwestern Belgium. Here 



136 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

ler, had, I found, provided themselves with good oaken plants, 
to attend their master upon this occasion. When he had placed 
him in his coach, with myself at his left hand, the captain before 
him, and his butler at the head of his footmen in the rear, we 
convoyed him in safety to the playhouse, where, after having 
marched up the entry in good order, the captain and I went in 
with him, and seated him betwixt us in the pit. As soon as the 
house was full, and the candles lighted, my old friend stood up 
and looked about him with that pleasure, which a mind seasoned 
with humanity naturally feels in itself, at the sight of a multitude 
of people who seem pleased with one another, and partake of the 
same common entertainment. I could not but fancy to myself, 
as the old man stood up in the middle of the pit, that he made 
a very proper center to a tragic audience. Upon the entering 
of Pyrrhus, 1 the knight told me, that he did not believe the King 
of France himself had a better strut. I was indeed very atten- 
tive to my old friend's remarks, because I looked upon them as 
a piece of natural criticism, and was well pleased to hear him at 
the conclusion of almost every scene, telling me that he could 
not imagine how the play would end. One while he appeared 
much concerned for Andromache ; 2 and a little while after as 
much for Hermione : 3 and was extremely puzzled to think what 
would become of Pyrrhus. 

When Sir Roger saw Andromache's obstinate refusal to her 
lover's importunities, he whispered me in the ear, that he was sure 
she would never have him ; to which he added, with a more than 
ordinary vehemence, " You can't imagine, sir, what 'tis to have 

the British under William III. were defeated by the French under Marshal 
Luxemburg, July, 1692. 

1 Pyrrhus, also called Neoptolemus, was a fabulous Greek warrior, son of 
Achilles, one of the heroes concealed in the Wooden Horse at the capture of 
Troy. 

2 A Trojan woman, wife of Hector, noted for her beauty and virtue. She 
became the captive of Pyrrhus at the fall of Troy. 

3 Daughter of Menelaus and Helen. She married Pyrrhus, and after his 
death became the wife of Orestes. 



ADDISON. 137 

to do with a widow." Upon Pyrrhus's threatening afterwards 
to leave her, the knight shook his head, and muttered to himself, 
" Ay, do if you can." This part dwelt so much upon my friend's 
imagination, that at the close of the third act, as I was thinking 
of something else, he whispered in my ear, " These widows, sir, 
are the most perverse creatures in the world. But pray," says 
he, " you that are a critic, is this play according to your dramatic 
rules, as you call them? Should your people in tragedy always 
talk to be understood? Why, there is not a single sentence in 
this play that I do not know the meaning of." 

The fourth act very luckily began before I had time to give 
the old gentleman an answer : " Well," says the knight, sitting 
down with great satisfaction, " I suppose we are now to see 
Hector's ghost." He then renewed his attention, and, from time 
to time, fell a-praising the widow. He made, indeed, a little mis- 
take as to one of her pages, whom at his first entering, he took 
for Astyanax ; 1 but he quickly set himself right in that particular, 
though, at the same time, he owned he should have been very 
glad to have seen the little boy, who, says he, must needs be a 
very fine child by the account that is given of him. Upon Her- 
mione's going off with a menace to Pyrrhus, the audience gave a 
loud clap ; to which Sir Roger added, " On my word, a notable 
young baggage ! " 

As there was a very remarkable silence and stillness in the 
audience during the whole action, it was natural for them to take 
the opportunity of these intervals between the acts, to express 
their opinion of the players, and of their respective parts. Sir 
Roger hearing a cluster of them praise Orestes, 2 struck in with 
them, and told them, that he thought his friend Pylades 3 was a 

1 Astyanax, also called Scamander, was the son of Hector and Androm- 
ache. Killed in infancy at siege of Troy. 

2 Orestes, son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, became King of 
Mycenae. 

3 Pylades was the son of Strophimus, King of Phoces, and cousin and 
friend of Orestes, 



138 DE COVER LEY PAPERS. 

very sensible man ; as they were afterwards applauding Pyrrhus, 
Sir Roger put in a second time; "And let me tell you," says he, 
" though he speaks but little, I like the old fellow in whiskers as 
well as any of them." Captain Sentry seeing two or three wags 
who sat near us, lean with an attentive ear towards Sir Roger, 
and fearing lest they should smoke 1 the knight, plucked him by 
the elbow, and whispered something in his ear, that lasted till the 
opening of the fifth act. The knight was wonderfully attentive 
to the account which Orestes gives of Pyrrhus's death, and at the 
conclusion of it, told me it was such a bloody piece of work, that 
he was glad it was not done upon the stage. Seeing afterwards 
Orestes in his raving fit, he grew more than ordinary serious, 
and took occasion to moralize (in his way) upon an evil con- 
science, adding, that Orestes, in his madness, looked as if he 
saw something. 

As we were the first that came into the house, so we were the 
last that went out of it ; being resolved to have a clear passage 
for our old friend, whom we did not care to venture among the 
jostling of the crowd. Sir Roger went out fully satisfied with his 
entertainment, and we guarded him to his lodgings in the same 
manner that we brought him to the playhouse ; being highly 
pleased, for my own part, not only with the performance of the 
excellent piece which had been presented, but with the satisfac- 
tion which it had given to the good old man. L» 

1 To quiz or ridicule. 



BUDGELL. 139 

WILL HONEYCOMB AT THE CLUB. 

[Budgell, in Spectator, No. jjg. Tuesday, April 22, 1712.] 

" Torva leczna lupum sequitur, lupus ipse capellam; 
Florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella." l 

Vikgil, Eclogues, vi. 63. 

AS we were at the Club last night, I observed that my friend 
JTjL Sir Roger, contrary to his usual custom, sat very silent, and 
instead of minding what was said by the company, was whistling 
to himself in a very thoughtful mood, and playing with a cork. 
I jogged Sir Andrew Freeport who sat between us ; and as we 
were both observing him, we saw the knight shake his head, and 
heard him say to himself, "A foolish woman! I can't believe it." 
Sir Andrew gave him a gentle pat upon the shoulder, and offered 
to lay him a bottle of wine that he was thinking of the widow. 
My old friend started, and recovering out of his brown study, told 
Sir Andrew that once in his life he had been in the right. In 
short, after some little hesitation, Sir Roger told us in the fullness 
of his heart* that he had just received a letter from his steward, 
which acquainted him that his old rival and antagonist in the 
county, Sir David Dundrum, had been making a visit to the 
widow. " However," says Sir Roger, " I can never think that 
she'll have a man that's half a year older than I am, and a noted 
Republican into the bargain/' 

Will Honeycomb, who looks upon love as his particular prov- 
ince, interrupting our friend with a jaunty laugh ; " I thought, 
knight," says he, " thou hadst lived long enough in the world, not 
to pin thy happiness upon one that is a woman and a widow. I 
think that without vanity I may pretend to know as much of the 

1 Warton's translation : — 

" Lions the wolves, and wolves the kids pursue, 
The kids sweet thyme, — and still I follow you." 



140 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

female world as any man in Great Britain, though the chief of 
my knowledge consists in this, that they are not to be known." 
Will immediately, with his usual fluency, rambled into an account 
of his own amours. " I am now," says he, " upon the verge of 
fifty " (though by the way we all knew he was turned of three- 
score). "You may easily guess," continued Will, "that I have 
not lived so long in the world without having had some thoughts 
of settling in it, as the phrase is. To tell you truly, I have sev- 
eral times tried my fortune that way, though I can't much boast 
of my success. 

" I made my first addresses to a young lady in the country ; 
but when I thought things were pretty well drawing to a con- 
clusion, her father happening to hear that I had formerly boarded 
with a surgeon, the old put 1 forbid me his house, and within 
a fortnight after married his daughter to a fox-hunter in the 
neighborhood. 

" I made my next applications to a widow, and attacked her 
so briskly, that I thought myself within a fortnight of her. As I 
waited upon her one morning, she told me that she intended to 
keep her ready-money and jointure in her own hand, and desired 
me to call upon her attorney in Lyon's Inn, 2 who would adjust 
with me what it was proper for me to add to it. I was so re- 
buffed by this overture, that I never inquired either for her or 
her attorney afterwards. 

" A few months after I addressed myself to a young lady, who 
was an only daughter, and of a good family. I danced with her 
at several balls, squeezed her by the hand, said soft things to her, 
and, in short, made no doubt of her heart ; and though my for- 
tune was not equal to hers, I was in hopes that her fond father 
would not deny her the man she had fixed her affections upon. 
But as I went one day to the house in order to break the matter 
to him, I found the whole family in confusion, and heard to my 

1 Put, i.e., a rustic; an uncouth, awkward person. 

2 On Newcastle Street, Strand, London, an inn of chancery belonging to 
the Inner Temple. 



BUDGELL. 1 41 

unspeakable surprise, that Miss Jenny was that very morning run 
away with the butler. 

" I then courted a second widow, and am at a loss to this day 
how I came to miss her, for she had often commended my person 
and behavior. Her maid indeed told me one day, that her mis- 
tress had said she never saw a gentleman with such a spindle pair 
of legs as Mr. Honeycomb. 

"After this I laid siege to four heiresses successively, and being 
a handsome young dog in those days, quickly made a breach in 
their hearts ; but I don't know how it came to pass, though I sel- 
dom failed of getting the daughter's consent, I could never in my 
life get the old people on my side. 

" I could give you an account of a thousand other unsuccess- 
ful attempts, particularly of one which I made some years since 
upon an old woman, whom I had certainly borne away with flying 
colors, if her relations had not come pouring in to her assistance 
from all parts of England ; nay, I believe I should have got her 
at last, had not she been carried off by a hard frost." 

As Will's transitions are extremely quick, he turned from Sir 
Roger, and applying himself to me, told me there was a passage 
in the book I had considered last Saturday, which deserved to 
be writ in letters of gold ; and taking out a pocket Milton 1 read 
the following lines, which are part of one of Adam's speeches to 
Eve after the Fall. 

"Oh! why did our 

Creator wise! that peopled highest heav'n 

With spirits masculine, create at last 

This novelty on earth, this fair defect 

Of nature? and not fill the world at once 

With men, as angels, without feminine? 

Or find some other way to generate 

Mankind? This mischief had not then befall'n, 

And more that shall befall ; innumerable 

Disturbances on earth through female snares, 

1 John Milton (1608-74), the immortal poet, excepting Shakespeare the 
most illustrious name in English literature, and author of Paradise Lost. 



142 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

And strait conjunction with this sex : for either 

He never shall find out fit mate, but such 

As some misfortune brings him, or mistake ; 

Or, whom he wishes most, shall seldom gain 

Through her perverseness ; but shall see her gain'd 

By a far worse ; or if she love, withheld 

By parents ; or his happiest choice too late 

Shall meet already link'd, and wedlock bound 

To a fell adversary, his hate or shame; 

Which infinite calamity shall cause 

To human life, and household peace confound." 

Sir Roger listened to this passage with great attention, and 
desiring Mr. Honeycomb to fold down a leaf at the place, and 
lend him his book, the knight put it up in his pocket, and told us 
that he would read over those verses again before he went to 
bed. • X. 



SIR ROGER AT SPRING GARDEN. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 383. Tuesday, May 20, 1712.] 

" Criminibus debent hortos. " * 

Juvenal, Sat. i. 75. 

AS I was sitting in my chamber, and thinking on a subject 
±\. for my next " Spectator," I heard two or three irregular 
bounces at my landlady's door, and upon the opening of it, a 
loud cheerful voice inquiring whether the philosopher was at 
home. The child who went to the door answered very inno- 
cently, that he did not lodge there. I immediately recollected 
that it was my good friend Sir Roger's voice ; and that I bad 
promised to go with him on the water to Spring Garden, 2 in case 

1 "A beauteous garden, but by vice maintain'd." 

2 Spring Garden, on the Surrey side of the Thames, was a short distance 
east of Vauxhall Bridge, near Milbank. It was opened in the reign of 
Charles II., 1661. It had extensive walks, numerous lamps, musical per- 



ADDISON. 143 

it proved a good evening. The knight put me in mind of my 
promise from the bottom of the staircase, but told me that if I 
was speculating he would stay below till I had done. Upon my 
coming down, I found all the children of the family got about 
my old friend, and my landlady herself, who is a notable prating 
gossip, engaged in a conference with him ; being mightily pleased 
with his stroking her little boy upon the head, and bidding him 
be a good child and mind his book. 

We were no sooner come to the Temple Stairs, 1 but we were 
surrounded with a crowd of watermen, offering us their respective 
services. Sir Roger, after having looked about him very atten- 
tively, spied one with a wooden leg, and immediately gave him 
orders to get his boat ready. As we were walking towards it, 
" You must know," says Sir Roger, " I never make use of any- 
body to row me, that has not either lost a leg or an arm. I 
would rather bate him a few strokes of his oar, than not employ 
an honest man that has been wounded in the Queen's service. 
If I was a lord or a bishop, and kept a barge, I would not put 
a fellow in my livery that had not a wooden leg." 

My old friend, after having seated himself, and trimmed the 
boat with his coachman, who, being a very sober man, always 
serves for ballast on these occasions, we made the best of our 
way for Vauxhall. Sir Roger obliged the waterman to give us 
the history of his right leg, and hearing that he had left it at 
La Hogue, 2 with many particulars which passed in that glorious 
action, the knight in the triumph of his heart made several reflec- 
tions on the greatness of the British nation ; as, that one English- 
man could beat three Frenchmen ; that we could never be in 



formances, fireworks, etc. It was reopened in 1732, and finally closed in 
1859. Since 1785 it has been called Vauxhall Garden. 

1 Temple Stairs, or Temple Bridge, was a landing-place extending across 
two stone arches well into the Thames. It was built in 162 1. 

2 A cape in Northwest France. On May 19, 1692, the English and Dutch 
fleets under Admirals Russell and Rook defeated the French under Admiral 
Tourville. 



144 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

danger of popery so long as we took care of our fleet ; that the 
Thames was the noblest river in Europe ; that London Bridge 1 
was a greater piece of work, than any of the seven wonders of 
the world ; with many other honest prejudices which naturally 
cleave to the heart of a true Englishman. 

After some short pause, the old knight turning about his head 
twice or thrice, to take a survey of this great metropolis, bid me 
observe how thick the city was set with churches, and that there 
was scarce a single steeple on this side Temple Bar. 2 "A most 
heathenish sight!" says Sir Roger: " there is no religion at this 
end of the town. The fifty new churches will very much mend 
the prospect ; but church work is slow, church work is slow! " 

I do not remember I have anywhere mentioned, in Sir Roger's 
character, his custom of saluting everybody that passes by him 
with a good-morrow or a good-night. This the old man does 
out of the overflowings of his humanity, though at the same time 
it renders him so popular among all his country neighbors, that 
it is thought to have gone a good way in making him once or 
twice knight of the shire. He cannot forbear this exercise of 
benevolence even in town, when he meets with any one in his 
morning or evening walk. It broke from him to several boats 
that passed by us upon the water ; but to the knight's great sur- 
prise, as he gave the good-night to two or three young fellows 
a little before our landing, one of them, instead of returning the 
civility, asked us what queer old put we had in the boat, with a 
great deal of the like Thames ribaldry. Sir Roger seemed a little 
shocked at first, but at length assuming a face of magistracy, 

1 A stone bridge across the Thames from London to Southwark. It was 
built between 1176 and 1209, and consisted of 20 arches, a drawbridge, a 
chapel, etc. It was here the heads of traitors, and other offenders against 
the state, were exposed. Under Charles II. this custom was abolished. 

2 A gateway of Portland stone, which separated the Strand from Fleet 
Street. First mentioned in 1 301. It was named from a chain or bar put up 
by the Knights Templars to mark the territory under the control of the city. 
The gateway is now destroyed, and a memorial now stands there which was 
unveiled Sept. 8, 1880. 



ADDISON. 145 

told us, that if he were a Middesex 1 justice, he would make such 
vagrants know that her Majesty's subjects were no more to be 
abused by water than by land. 

We were now arrived at Spring Garden, which is exquisitely 
pleasant at this time of year. When I considered the fragrancy 
of the walks and bowers, with the choirs of birds that sung upon 
the trees, and the loose tribe of people that walked under their 
shades, I could not but look upon the place as a kind of Mahom- 
etan Paradise. Sir Roger told me it put him in mind of a little 
coppice by his house in the country, which his chaplain used 
to call an aviary of nightingales. "You must understand," 
says the knight, "there is nothing in the world that pleases a 
man in love so much as your nightingale. Ah, Mr. Spectator! 
the many moonlight nights that I have walked by myself, and 
thought on the widow by the music of the nightingales ! " He 
here fetched a deep sigh, and was falling into a fit of musing, 
when a mask, who came behind him, gave him a gentle tap upon 
the shoulder, and asked him if he would drink a bottle of mead 
with her? But the knight, being startled at so unexpected a 
familiarity, and displeased to be interrupted in his thoughts of 
the widow, told her, she was a wanton baggage, and bid her go 
about her business. 

We concluded our walk with a glass of Burton ale, and a slice 
of hung beef. When we had done eating ourselves, the knight 
called a waiter to him, and bid him carry the remainder to the 
waterman that had but one leg. I perceived the fellow stared 
upon him at the oddness of the message, and was going to be 
saucy; upon which I ratified the knight's commands with a 
peremptory look. I. 

1 The metropolitan county of England. Its name is a corruption of " Mid- 
dles exe " or " Middles ax on." 



146 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

SIR ROGER'S DEATH. 

[Addison, in Spectator, No. 517. Thursday, October 23, 1712.] 

" Hen pietas ! hen prisca fides." 1 

Virgil, /Eneid, Lib. VI. 878. 

WE last night received a piece of ill news at our Club, which 
very sensibly afflicted every one of us. I question not 
but my readers themselves will be troubled at the hearing of it. 
To keep them no longer in suspense, Sir Roger de Coverley is 
dead. He departed this life at his house in the country, after a 
few weeks' sickness. Sir Andrew Freeport has a letter from one 
of his correspondents in those parts, that informs him the old 
man caught a cold at the county-sessions, as he was very warmly 
promoting an address of his own penning, in which he succeeded 
according to his wishes. But this particular comes from a Whig 
justice of peace, who was always Sir Roger's enemy and antag- 
onist. I have letters both from the chaplain and Captain Sentry 
which mention nothing of it, but are filled with many particulars 
to the honor of the good old man. I have likewise a letter from 
the butler, who took so much care of me last summer when I 
was at the knight's house. As my friend the butler mentions, in 
the simplicity of his heart, several circumstances the others have 
passed over in silence, I shall give my reader a copy of his letter, 
without any alteration or diminution. 

Honored Sir, — Knowing that you was my old master's good friend, I 
could not forbear sending you the melancholy news of his death, which has 
afflicted the whole country, as well as his poor servants, who loved him, I 
may say, better than we did our lives. I am afraid he caught his death the 
last county-sessions, where he would go to see justice done to a poor widow 

1 Dryden's translation : — 

" Mirror of ancient faith ! 
Undaunted worth ! Inviolable truth 1 " 



ADDISON. 147 

woman, and her fatherless children, that had been wronged by a neighboring 
gentleman ; for you know, sir, my good master was always the poor man's 
friend. Upon his coming home, the first complaint he made was, that he had 
lost his roast-beef stomach, not being able to touch a sirloin, which was 
served up according to custom ; and you know he used to take great delight 
in it. From that time forward he grew worse and worse, but still kept a 
good heart to the last. Indeed we were once in great hope of his recovery, 
upon a kind message that was sent him from the widow lady whom he had 
made love to the forty last years of his life ; but this only proved a light'ning 
before death. He has bequeathed to this lady, as a token of his love, a great 
pearl necklace, and a couple of silver bracelets set with jewels, which be- 
longed to my good old lady his mother : he has bequeathed the fine white geld- 
ing, that he used to ride a hunting upon, to his chaplain, because he thought 
he would be kind to him, and has left you all his books. He has, moreover, 
bequeathed to the chaplain a very pretty tenement with good lands about it. 
It being a very cold day when he made his will, he left for mourning, to 
every man in the parish, a great frieze-coat, and to every woman a black rid- 
ing-hood. It was a most moving sight to see him take leave of his poor ser- 
vants, commending us all for our fidelity, whilst we were not able to speak a 
word for weeping. As we most of us are grown gray-headed in our dear 
master's service, he has left us pensions and legacies, which we may live very 
comfortably upon, the remaining part of our days. He has bequeathed a 
great deal more in charity, which is not yet come to my knowledge, and it is 
peremptorily said in the parish, that he has left money to build a steeple to 
the church ; for he was heard to say some time ago, that if he lived two years 
longer, Coverley Church should have a steeple to it. The chaplain tells 
everybody that he made a very good end, and never speaks of him without 
tears. He was buried according to his own directions, among the family of 
the Coverleys, on the left hand of his father Sir Arthur. The coffin was car- 
ried by six of his tenants, and the pall held up by six of the quorum : the 
whole parish followed the corpse with heavy hearts, and in their mourning 
suits, the men in frieze, and the women in riding-hoods. Captain Sentry, my 
master's nephew, has taken possession of the Hall House, and the whole 
estate. When my old master saw him a little before his death, he shook him 
by the hand, and wished him joy of the estate which was falling to him, de- 
siring him only to make good use of it, and to pay the several legacies, and 
the gifts of charity which he told him he had left as quit-rents upon the 
estate. The captain truly seems a courteous man, though he says but little. 
He makes much of those whom my master loved, and shows great kindness 
to the old house-dog, that you know my poor master was so fond of. It 
would have gone to your heart to have heard the moans the dumb creature 
made on the day of my master's death. He has ne'er joyed himself since; 



148 DE COVERLEY PAPERS. 

no more has any of us. 'Twas the melancholiest day for the poor people that 
ever happened in Worcestershire. This being all from, honored sir, 
Your most sorrowful servant, 

EDWARD BISCUIT. 

P. S. — My master desired, some weeks before he died, that a book which 
comes up to you by the carrier should be given to Sir Andrew Freeport, in 
his name. 

This letter, notwithstanding the poor butler's manner of writing 
it, gave us such an idea of our good old friend, that upon the read- 
ing of it there was not a dry eye in the Club. Sir Andrew open- 
ing the book, found it to be a collection of Acts of Parliament. 
There was in particular the Act of Uniformity, with some pas- 
sages in it marked by Sir Roger's own hand. Sir Andrew found 
that they related to two or three points, which he had disputed 
with Sir Roger the last time he appeared at the Club. Sir An- 
drew, who would have been merry at such an incident on an- 
other occasion, at the sight of the old man's handwriting burst 
into tears, and put the book into his pocket. Captain Sentry in- 
forms me, that the knight has left rings and mourning for every 
one in the Club. CX 



THE SPECTATOR 

An Original Number. — The notes in fine print appearing directly 
beneath the titles of the various papers in this volume, should prevent 
our losing sight of two important facts. The date reminds us that we 
are seeing a picture of English social life of two centuries ago. The 
phrase, "in Spectator No. — ," recalls the fact that the essays are in re- 
ality selections from a " daily" paper whose 635 issues have found a 
permanent place in literature. It is natural that we should desire to turn 
from the present book or even from the octavo volumes of the early col- 
lected editions, to look at an original number. One of these first copies 
may sometimes be seen in a public library or in a private collection of 
manuscripts and rare books. 

The Spectator was published in a part of London known as Little 
Britain, which was, two hundred years ago, the center of the book- 
selling and printing trade. Each number sold for a penny. It is reck- 
oned that the circulation in a short time grew to eight or ten thousand. 
The papers were single folio sheets measuring twelve and one-half by 
eight inches and were printed on both sides in double column. The 
Spectator appeared in half inch letters at the top of the page. Below 
this were spaces inclosed by three parallel lines extending the full width 
of the sheet. In the first space was printed the Latin motto, which the 
Spectator says (in No. 221) was a word to the wise; in the second, the 
day and date of the issue. The special interest of an original number 
of the Spectator is found in the letterpress. This reveals the custom of 
the time in reference to such matters as capitalization, spelling, punctua- 
tion, and the use of italics. Every noun is capitalized. The spelling 
presents many surprises and indicates how much the orthography of 
our language has changed since 1711. On the other hand, we cannot 
discover much warrant for the fear expressed by writers of that day that 
the changes going on in the language might hinder people of later 
times from reading or appreciating early eighteenth century literature. 
A very free use of the comma and the semicolon is recognized; words are 
italicized more generally than now, and with less reason for it. 

149 



150 THE SPECTATOR. 

The ubiquitous advertisement of the modern press had made its ap- 
pearance in Addison's time. Notices of this sort had been inserted in 
the very earliest newspapers, and were, no doubt, continued in the 
Spectator in deference to a popular demand. Advertisements often oc- 
cupied as much as a column and a half of the paper. These advertise- 
ments are different from the business and professional announcements 
of to-day, and they reflect the manners and interests of the people as 
pointedly, if not so gracefully, as the discussions of the essayist himself. 
The following are facsimile reproductions from original numbers of 
the Spectator (1711): 

Incomparable Perfuming Drops for Handkerchiefs, and all other Linnen 
Cloaths, Gloves, &c. being the moft Excellent for that purpofe in the Uni- 
verfe; for they Stain nothing that is perfumed with 'em, any more than fair 
Water, but are the moft Delegable, Fragrant, and Odoriferous Perfume in 
Nature, and good againft all Difeafes of the Head and Brain: By their de- 
licious Smell, they Comfort, Revive, and Refrefh all the Senfes, Natural, 
Vital and Animal, enliven the Spirits, chear the Heart, and drive away Mel- 
ancholy: They alio perfume Rooms, Beds, Prefles, Drawers, Boxes, &c. 
making them fmell furprizingly Fine and Odoriferous. They Perfume the 
Hands excellently, are an extraordinary Scent for the Pocket; and, in fhort, 
are fo exceeding Pleafant and Delightful, fo admirably Curious and Delicate, 
and of fuch general Ufe, that nothing in the World can compare with 'em. 
Sold only at Mr. Payn's Toy fhop, at the Angel and Crows. In St. Paul's 
Church-yard, near Cheapfide, at 2 s. 6 d. a Bottle, with Directions. 

At the Requeft of feveral Foreigners lately arrived, The Mafquerade in 
Old Spring Garden, Charing Crofs, will be this prefent Tuefday, being the 
Firft Day of May. Note, That upon this Occafion a Gentleman is pleafed 
to give for the Diverfion of the Mafquers, an Entertainment of Mufick, both 
Vocal and Instrumental, by fome of the beft Mafters in Eondon. This En- 
tertainment will begin exactly at Ten a Clock. Tickets may be had at 
Mr. Thurmonds's in King's Court, Ruflel-ftreet, Covent-Garden, and at 
the Houfe in Spring Garden; price Half a Guinea. No perfon whatfoever to 
be admitted Unmafk'd or Arm'd. 

Influence of the Spectator. — The life of the people of England 
at the beginning of the eighteenth century finds full and vivid presenta- 
tion in the Spectator. The volume of 635 papers offers in passing-show 
the men and women of both the upper and lower classes, displaying 
their fooleries and extravagances in dress, and their indulgence in many 
forms of sensual pleasures or in such grosser vices as gambling, dueling, 



THE SPECTATOR. 15 1 

or playing the Mohock. As the Spectator observes, "there were both 
those who passed the time in crimes and immoralities and those who 
passed the time in trifle and impertinence." The diaries of a fine gentle- 
man and of a fine lady are given in the Spectator. They show how 
utterly purposeless and debased were the lives of the dandy and the 
coquette. The dissection of a beau's head (No. 275) showed that the 
antra contained no sign of ideas, the cavities being filled with ribbons, 
billets-doux, snuff, and flatteries. In another paper (No. 10) we are told 
that these blanks of society "never know what to talk of till twelve 
o'clock in the morning, but by that time they are pretty good judges of 
the weather and know which way the wind sits." A survey of English 
history during the forty-two years preceding the accession of Queen 
Anne will do much toward accounting for the temperament and conduct 
of these people. They had found no time to consider the claims of 
culture amidst a long war with France, the development cf strong party 
interests, and the phenomenal expansion of the nation's trade. 

Beneath the corruption and frivolity of the people there was, however, 
a dormant sense of refinement. The earnestness and integrity of 
former generations had not been entirely rooted out. There came a 
time when two men, with kindly hearts and able minds, saw an oppor- 
tunity for recalling the people to proper living and thinking. On 
March 1, 1711, the Spectator papers began to appear. The public were 
immediately captivated with their quaint humor and their clever ex- 
posure of shams. The popularity of these daily speculations is not 
overdrawn in the tribute of George Trusty (No. 134): 

"The variety of your subject surprizes me as much as a box of pic- 
tures did formerly in which there was only one face, that by pulling 
some isinglass over it was changed into a grave senator or a merry 
Andrew, a patched lady or a nun, a beau or a black -a-moor, a prude or 
a coquett, a country squire or a conjurer, with many other different 
representations very entertaining tho' still the same at the bottom. This 
was a childish amusement when I was carried away with the outward 
appearance, but you make a deeper impression and affect the secret 
springs of the minds; you charm the fancy, soothe the passions, and 
insensibly lead the reader to that sweetness of temper that you so well 
describe; you rouse generosity with the spirit, and inculcate humanity 
with that ease that he must be miserably stupid that is not affected by 



J S 2 THE SPECTATOR. 

you. I can't say indeed that you have put impertinence to silence or 
vanity out of countenance; but methinks you have bid as fair for it as 
any man that ever appeared upon a public stage; and offer an infallible 
cure of vice and folly for the price of one penny." 

The influence exerted by Addison and Steele in these diurnal essays 
brought health and vigor back again into English social life The 
Spectator became the mirror wherein men and women saw the folly and 
absurdity of their conduct, yet without feeling the sting of malignant 
caricature. . Each issue of the folio sheet hastened the final reform by 
its reinforcement of good taste, its incitement to higher purposes in life 
and its presentation of subjects more worthy to engage the discussion 
of the gentlemen who lounged in the coffeehouses. Addison unques- 
tionably realized the ambition which he confesses in No «6 -"Not 
to mcrease the number either of Whigs or Tories, but of wise and good 

The Spectator's Place in LtTERATURE.-It is not their ethical 
value, entirely, which has made Addison's essays popular for two hun- 
dred years. A permanent charm consists in their simplicity and refine- 
ment of diction. These qualities had not been combined in the prose of 
earlier controversial literature and satire. But the eighteenth century 
produced an author whose style possesses both elegance and ease. With 
Addison there are no artifices of construction, no flashes of eloquence 
and yet, he is able to make an English sentence agreeable to the ear and' 
at the same time, poignant in thought. All this may be said, recogniz- 
ing meanwhile that Addison frequently violates the rules of modern 
syntax and persistently ignores the principle of sentence coherence. 
But the grace and delicacy of his expression are not destroyed by faulty 
constructions. In reading the De Coverley Papers we discover that a 
certain refinement in language is possible and natural, even in the treat- 
ment of familiar everyday topics. The style of these papers has been 
called conversational. This being so, we who live in the present can 
well make the dignity and purity of the Spectator's talk the touchstone 
lor our own speech. 

Again, these essays on the "gentle art of living" owe much of their 
charm to a narrative, and a distinctly human interest attached to the 
fortunes and movements of that imaginary group of gentlemen who were 
members of the Spectator Club. Sir Roger, reflecting the "unpretend- 



SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY. 153 

ing virtues and amicable weaknesses" of a typical country gentleman, 
is the central figure. Next in prominence and in our affection is the 
Spectator himself— modest, courteous, and shrewd, — the quiet ob- 
server of men and the exact recorder of manners. Will Honeycomb, the 
man of fashion; Sir Andrew, the enterprising merchant; and the others 
in that immortal company, appear and reappear before us, until the 
drama is ended and the Spectator himself retires from the stage. Indeed, 
the charm of the Spectator essay will be felt just as long as there is a 
demand for a style combining purity and elegance with faithful portrayal 
of life and character. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 

Preliminary Reading. — A knowledge of the historical setting of 
the Spectator papers seems indispensable. The teacher must be equipped 
with that broad background of knowledge which, as Professor Palmer 
explains, will enable one "to teach right up to the edge of his knowledge 
without a fear of falling off." This preparatory reading, besides being 
readily accessible, will clothe every page of the text with new meaning 
and interest. Only a few sources of information need be consulted. 
An excellent work is the Life of Addison, by William J. Courthope, in 
English Men of Letters Series; Chap. V., on the Tatler and the Spectator, 
will prove especially valuable. Other volumes to be consulted are John 
Ashton's Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, Green's History of the 
English People, and William C. Sydney's England and the English in 
the Eighteenth Century. Biographies of Addison and Steele, as well as 
criticisms of their works, are too well known to be mentioned here. 

A very fruitful way of beginning the study of the De Coverley Papers 
is to assign various subjects to the members of the class for investigation 
and report. Papers may be written upon such matters as are treated 
in Chap. III., Vol. I., of Macaulay's History of England. The class 
ought to be familiar with Macaulay's interesting descriptions of The 
Country Gentleman, London, The Coffeehouses, Newspapers, et cetera. 

Notebooks.— When the reading of the paper is taken up, notebooks 
may be used to great advantage. Each student should set down the fol- 
lowing titles (allowing a page for each one) under which he will write 



154 SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY. 

such data as he finds in the course of his reading: — (i) Traits of Sir 
Roger; (2) Traits of the Spectator; (3) Life in the Country; (4) Life in 
London; (5) Amusements; (6) Party Spirit, — and similar headings. 
Other pages of the notebook may comprise a special dictionary. Here 
will be kept a list of words — now obsolete or unfamiliar to the student — 
with the meanings indicated by synonyms or brief explanatory notes. 
The list would contain such terms as coral (p. 14, 1. 14), blots (p. 16, 
1. 19), habits (p. 23, 1. 17), mode (p. 23, 1. 19), polite (p. 27, 1. 26), pad 
(p. 30, 1. i), conversation (p. 30, 1. 28), humorist (p. 30, 1. ^^), husband 
(p. 34, 1. 14), event (p. 52, 1. 8), murrain (p. 52, 1. 14), vapors (p. 61, 1. 8), 
freedoms (p. 82, 1. 31), put (p. 144, 1. 25), and especially "wit" and 
"parts," which frequently appear. 

The use of the notebook may be extended in various ways under 
the direction of the teacher. An attractive and helpful department would 
include a page or two of quotations selected by each student as examples 
of the author's felicity in expression and excellence of sentiment. 

Oral Recitation. — The class should not fail to recognize how 
ingenious was the plan adopted by Steele and Addison in making Sir 
Roger the central figure. A certain number of the thirty-three papers 
have for their special object the presentation of .he Knight's character. 
We see him at home, at church, at the assizes, and in the city. While 
always revealing his simplicity and innocence of mind, he betrays in 
each new situation some curious whim or vanity. Many of the papers 
describing the Spectator's visit to Coverley Hall contribute but little to 
the presentation of Sir Roger's character. On the other hand, it is 
because the Spectator is being entertained by the Knight that he finds 
the opportunity of observing the habits and manners of the country 
folk. Thus papers which only mention Sir Roger incidentally are con- 
cerned chiefly with the development of minor characters or with the 
account of customs and beliefs which the author wishes to satirize in 
other people. Again, there are several papers which are given over to 
the reflections of the author upon some general topic and which contain 
little or no account of persons. Therefore, one of the first points to be 
discussed and determined is the purpose, or main idea, underlying each 
separate paper. 

Other important topics to be treated in the oral recitation are briefly 
suggested in the following questions: 



SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY. 155 

What types of character are reflected in the various persons mentioned 
in the papers? 

How are the characteristics of each of these persons brought out, — by 
what he does or says, or by the author's comment ? 

Wherever satire appears explain exactly what is being satirized and 
how the author goes about it. 

Give your own impression of Sir Andrew, Will Honeycomb, Tom 
Touchy, The Chaplain, Will Wimble. 

Which author, Addison or Steele, puts the greater feeling into his 
writing ? 

Where in the papers does Addison show his Whig prejudices? 

Are Addison's sentences loose or periodic in form ? 

Which of the following qualities of style are found to be most con- 
spicuous in Addison's writing, — simplicity, strength, clearness, taste, 
melody, pathos, humor? 

What evidences of Sir Roger's self-importance do you find in the 
papers ? 

Why was it necessary to have Sir Roger die ? 

Explain and discuss the principal allusions to city and country life. 

Correlated Reading in the Spectator. — Because the practice 
has always been found both enjoyable and profitable, it is well that the 
class should be required to read several numbers of the Spectator outside 
the De Coverley collection. Undoubtedly the best arrangement is to 
have the volumes of the Spectator papers upon the teacher's desk (the 
edition in Everyman's Library — 4 volumes, introduction by Professor 
Gregory Smith — is inexpensive and especially good: the edition of 
Henry Morley is well known). At the close of as many recitations as 
practicable, the last five minutes may be devoted to this reading. An 
appropriate paper should be selected by the teacher and the book then 
passed to some member of the class who will read the selection aloud. 
On the following day the contents of the paper may be reviewed in a 
very brief discussion. The scope and attractiveness of the material to 
be found in the Spectator will at once become evident. A few instances 
are given here: On Clubs, No. 9; On Purpose of the Spectator, Nos. 10, 
124, and 262; Popularity of Puppet-Shows, No. 14; On Fashions in 
Head-Dress, No. 98; On Dress, No. 129; On Flirtations with a Fan, 
No. 134; On Low Standards of Theatre-Goers, No. 208; On Use of Mottoes 



156 QUESTIONS AND NOTES. 

and the Letters, No. 221; The Cries of London, No. 251; On Sir Roger's 
Popularity with the People, No. 271; The Dissection of a Coquet? s Heart, 
No. 281; Journal of a Gentleman, No. 317; Manifesto of the Mohocks, 
No. 347; False Ambitions of Women, No. 435; On Behavior in Church, 
Nos. 460 and 630. 

Written Composition. — No other classic in the list of required read- 
ing furnishes so many suggestions for the writing of themes. In the 
case of the De Coverley Papers the usual objections to making literature 
a basis for written composition are not sustained. Subjects may be 
chosen which require invention as well as imitation, and which are 
certain to enlist the student's interest. The following are given by way 
of suggestion: 

1. A Day's Fishing with Will Wimble. 

2. Sir Roger and Will Honeycomb — compared. 

3. A Letter from the Chaplain containing an Account of his Last 
Visit and Talk with the Old Baronet. 

4. Country Life in the Eighteenth Century. 

5. The Spectator's Account of his Visit to the Pyramids. 

6. Sir Roger while in London attends Church with the Spectator. 

7. A Sketch of the Widow. 

8. Addison's Skill in using Satire. 

9. The Coffeehouses. 

10. A paper in imitation of Nos. 120 and 121, in which the Spectator 
discusses the instinct of some animals not mentioned in either of these 
essays. 

11. Sir Roger's Hunting Pack. 

12. A Description of the real Moll White. 

13. A History of the Suit, — Tom Touchy vs. Will Wimble. 



QUESTIONS AND NOTES 

(Figures in heavy type refer to page and line.) 

The Spectator, pp. 13-18. — How does this paper secure the interest 
of the public in subsequent numbers? 

In what respects does the Spectator's description of himself conform 
to the life and temperament of Addison ? 



QUESTIONS AND NOTES. 157 

Point out what is humorous and what is serious in the Spectator's 
account of himself. 

Was Addison a Whig or a Tory? 

The Spectator was published every week day from March 1, 171 1, 
to December 6, 171 2, — making 555 issues. The paper was revived 
January 18, 17 14, and was published three times each week until 
December 20th of the same year. 

Coffeehouses. 16 : 3. There are nineteen different coffeehouses 
mentioned in the Spectator papers. Additional comment upon the 
popularity of these resorts may be found in Chap. Ill, Vol. I, of Ma- 
caulay's History of England and in Chap. XVIII of Ashton's Social 
Life in the Reign of Queen Anne. 

The papers written by Addison are signed C, L, I, and 0, the idea 
being derived from the name of the Muse of History. Papers contrib- 
uted by Steele are signed R and T. For a very interesting and enter- 
taining discussion of the use of these letters, see Spectator, No. 221. 

The Spectator Club, pp. 18-24. — What classes of society are 
represented in the Club? 

What points concerning Sir Roger's character arouse the most 
interest? 

What matter is given the most emphasis in the characterization of 
the Templar? 

How is the ideal merchant reflected in Sir Andrew? 

What is the purpose of including Will Honeycomb among the mem- 
bers of the Club? Is the Will Honeycomb type of man to be found in 
society to-day? 

What is attractive in the personality of Captain Sentry? 

Sir Roger on Men of Fine Parts, pp. 25-28. — The aim of this 
paper is to urge the importance of making morality and religion the 
foundation for all true culture, or to show that sharpness of intellect 
and polish of manners are noxious affectations unless they grow out of 
nature and reason. Examine each paragraph to discover how this 
thought is developed or applied. 

Sir Roger at Home, pp. 29-32.— How is Sir Roger's character 
revealed in his home life? 



158 QUESTIONS AND NOTES. 

What traits of country people are brought out in this paper? 

Captain Sentry, after succeeding to Sir Roger's estate, makes men- 
tion of "his little absurdities and incapacity for the conversation of 
the politest men." What warrant do you find for Sentry's characteri- 
zation in this account of Sir Roger? 

How is the kindliness of Addison's humor reflected in this descrip- 
tion of life at Coverley Hall? 

Sir Roger's Servants, pp. 32-36. — Is Sir Roger's policy as a mas- 
ter tempered with too much generosity? 

What inconsistency is found in the statements of 1. 5, p. 35, and 1. 17, 
p. 29? Note the authors of the respective papers. 

What reform has Steele in mind in this discussion? 

Sir Roger and Will Wimble, pp. 36-39. — Why is the letter ex- 
traordinary? 

Look up the meaning of Wimble in an unabridged dictionary and 
show the appropriateness of the name. 

How is all of Will Wimble's time employed? 

What career does Addison recommend for the younger brothers in 
English families? 

Read the author's comment upon crowded professions in Spectator, 
No. 21. 

Sir Roger's Ancestors, pp. 39-43. — To what extent is Sir Roger's 
pride in his lineage justifiable? 

What is Sir Roger's idea of a gentleman? 

What was Sir Andrew's reason for claiming that the citizen and 
benefactor referred to by Sir Roger was a real ancestor of the Coverley 
family? 

What is the purpose of the paper? 

Night Fears at Coverley, pp. 43-47. — What is Addison's own 
position in this matter of apparitions? Is he entirely free from super- 
stition himself? 

Does he accept the opinions of philosophers (and poets) in reference 
to ghosts? 

What does he wish to correct in the belief of the country people? 

Why does he introduce the story from Josephus? 



QUESTIONS AND NOTES. 159 

A Sunday with Sir Roger, pp. 47-50. — What special value belong- 
ing to a Sabbath in the country does the author wish the readers of the 
town to recognize? 

What faults and what virtues of Sir Roger are revealed? Which 
predominate? 

What objectionable features of church life in the country are 
exposed? What conditions prevailed in city congregations? See 
Nos. 460 and 630 of the Spectator. 

Account for the universal interest and delight which is found in this 
paper. 

Sir Roger in Love, pp. 50-55. — In what sense is the pleasing walk 
"settled upon" the widow? 

How long a time has elapsed since Sir Roger became infatuated with 
his charming client? 

How has the unsuccessful suit affected the life of the old squire? 
Has he lost any of his ardor for the widow? 

What is the significance of Sir Roger's assertion that the widow is a 
"desperate scholar"? 

Are Sir Roger's attainments superior to those of the average country 
gentleman of that time? 

Compare Sir Roger with the typical country squire as he is de- 
scribed by Macaulay. (History of England, Chap. III.) 

Sir Roger's Economy, pp. 56-59. — Does the shame of poverty lead 
people of the present day to live in the absurd fashion adopted by Sir 
Roger's guest? 

Did Steele in his own life practice the economy which he extols in 
this discussion? 

What custom is Steele following in naming these imaginary persons 
Laertes and Irns? 

Bodily Exercise, pp. 60-63. — What kind of recreation or exercise 
does Addison indorse? 

Does he approve of Sir Roger's devotion to hunting? 

Where do you find satire delicately employed in this discussion? 

Sir Roger and the Chase, pp. 64-69.— Who is the author of this 



160 QUESTIONS AND NOTES. 

paper? Look up the facts of his life in Introduction, pp. 9-10. With 
what success has he imitated the style of Addison in this account of 
the chase? 

In what respects does Sir Roger represent the typical country 
gentleman? 

Does the Spectator display his usual manner and disposition on this 
occasion? Find the place in the account where he really speaks out. 

How is this narrative of the hunt made vivid and entertaining? 

What difference is to be noted in Sir Roger's spirit and conduct when 
hunting foxes and when hunting hares? 

Moll White, the Witch, pp. 69-72. — The belief in witchcraft was 
very general in the last half of' the seventeenth century. Less than 
twenty years before this paper was published the extensive panic over 
witchcraft occurred in Salem, Mass. The last witch's trial in England 
was that of Jane Wenham in 171 2. The Encyclopedia Britannica 
gives some account of the famous trial of the Suffolk witches. These 
were two widows accused of bewitching young children. The evi- 
dence set forth that the children fell into fits and vomited crooked 
pins. A farmer testified that after his cart had touched the house of one 
of these witches it overturned continually and they could not get it 
home. The chief baron, summing up, said that there were such crea- 
tures as witches because the Scriptures affirmed it and the wisdom of 
nations had provided laws against such persons. 

Is the author altogether incredulous on the subject of witchcraft? 
Compare his statement at the end of the first paragraph with his state- 
ment on p. 70, 1. n. 

W T hat is Sir Roger's opinion of Moll White? 

What more does the author wish to accomplish besides correcting 
the injustice which attended the belief in witchcraft? 

Love-Making at Coverley, pp. 73-76. — What is the real theme 
of the author, — Sir Roger's admiration for the widow, or the imperti- 
nence of confidantes and busybodies, or the love-making of Sir Roger's 
Master of the Game? 

To what cause does Steele attribute all of Sir Roger's eccentrici- 
ties? 

She. 76 : 1. To whom does the pronoun refer? 



QUESTIONS AND NOTES. 161 

Country Manners, pp. 77-79. — What have the town and country 
to learn from each other in regard to etiquette? 

Why are the manners and ceremonies of the city folk and country 
folk so unlike? 

What different meanings has the term conversation in this paper? 

In relation to headdresses (p. 79) be sure to read Nos. 98 and 265 of 
the Spectator. 

Sir Roger's Poultry, pp. 80-83, and The Adaptation of Animals, 
pp. 84-89. — These papers are in no way connected with the sketches 
of men and of manners that are included in this collection. But they 
are interesting inasmuch as they deal with pleasing topics of natural 
history and are examples of a great number of easy philosophical dis- 
cussions which Addison contributed to the Spectator. The author's 
purpose is to show that the habits and instincts of animals demonstrate 
the existence of a Divine Energy acting in every creature. 

Sir Roger among his Neighbors, pp. 89-92. — What traits of Sir 
Roger are revealed in his criticism of Tom Touchy? By his Speech at 
Court? 

What is the satire in the story of the Saracen's head? 

What prompts the Spectator to word his reply to Sir Roger's ques- 
tion (p. 92, fourth line from end) as he does? See p. 91, 1. 2. 

The Story of Florio and Leonilla, pp. 93-97. — Addison fre- 
quently introduced a fable or allegory in the Spectator papers to im- 
press a matter of principle. 

What do we learn concerning the education of a man of considerable 
estate? 

What is the purpose of this discussion? 

Like a novel. 94 : 9. What was understood by this term at that 
time? 

Party Spirit, pp. 98-102, and Political Dissensions, pp. 102-106. 

The origin of the two parties, Whigs and Tories, dates back to the 
reign of Charles II. The first controversy involved the question of the 
hereditary rights of kings. Parliament in 1679 wished to prevent the 
succession to the throne of James of York, a Catholic and a brother of 



162 QUESTIONS AND NOTES. 

Charles. Those who opposed the succession of James drafted what 
was known as the Exclusion Bill. The king, to save his brother, dis- 
solved Parliament. The members who aimed to pass the bill and 
therefore petitioned Charles to summon Parliament again, were called 
Petitioners, or Whigs; while those who sustained Charles were known 
as Abhorrers, or Tories. Thus, the first great principle advocated by 
the Whigs was the right of the people to create kings and to limit their 
exercise of power. The Tories supported the theory of the Divine 
Right of Kings as well as their absolute authority in government. 

James II, who succeeded his brother Charles, inflamed the people 
by his efforts to restore Catholicism. When finally he fled to France 
and William and Mary became the sovereigns, Parliament quickly 
passed the Toleration Act which gave to the Dissenters (Presby- 
terians, Independents, Quakers) the privilege of worshiping accord- 
ing to their own beliefs. The Tories hated the Catholics as bitterly as 
did the Whigs. Consequently, there was little opposition to such a 
movement, because the Tories, while they still believed in the Anglican 
Church, were willing to accept the Act so long as it excluded Catholics 
from its benefits. In succeeding years, however, the jealousy of the 
English Church Advocates increased and they stoutly opposed the 
freedom of the Nonconformists. The Tories constituted the Church 
Party and the Whigs were in sympathy with the Dissenters. 

The reference to the opposition between the landed and the mon- 
eyed interests (p. 104, 1. 23) was a still later development of party 
differences. The expansion of trade referred to in the foregoing notes 
(p. 151) is apparent in the spread of manufactures throughout the 
English cities. Merchants were becoming wealthy by means of in- 
creased exports. This gave origin to the strife between country gentle- 
men, whose land taxes were very heavy, and merchants who only paid 
small excise duties. The country districts were the strongholds of the 
Tories and the cities of the Whigs. 

Sum up the objections which the Spectator makes against partisan- 
ship. 

Why does Sir Roger say that parties tend to the destruction of the 
game? (p. 99, 1. 2). 

Does this description of the evils of party spirit apply to conditions 
to-day in England? Spectator, No. 451, discusses the evils of support- 
ing one's party with falsehood and slander. 



QUESTIONS AND NOTES. 163 

Sir Roger and the Gypsies, pp. 106-109. — Is entertainment or 
instruction the chief aim of this paper? 

How do Sir Roger's actions contradict his words? 

What evidence is there that the Spectator was a close observer of 
human nature? 

The Spectator Summoned to London, pp. 109-112. — What figure 
is effectively employed in the second paragraph? 

What is the special purpose of the paper? 

What is attractive in Will Honeycomb's letter? 

How does it reflect the interest which the papers have aroused 
among town readers? 

White witch. 111:3. One who could undo the wrong or evil spells 
of the black spirits and who yet indulged in certain mischief. 

The Journey to London, pp. 112-116. — What information is 
given concerning the usual experiences to be encountered in traveling 
by coach at the beginning of the eighteenth century? 

What new types of people are presented and satirized in this paper? 

A Debate at the Club, pp. i 16-120. — What is the precise reproach 
that Sir Roger casts upon the trading class? 

What virtue of the country gentleman does Sir Roger extol in con- 
trast with the merchant's frugality? 

What claims does Sir Andrew make concerning the usefulness of 
merchantmen? 

How does Sir Andrew show the real worth of him who only "pores 
over cashbooks and exercises skill in numbers." 

How does Sir Andrew finally silence Sir Roger by reminding him of 
the obligation of his family to a certain man of trade? See 120 : 7 and 
42 : 13-19. 

Who has the better of the argument? 

Does Steele seem to be giving little or great credit to Sir Andrew? 
Why? 

Sir Roger in London, pp. 120-124. — What new impression do we 
get of the old baronet? 

What is Addison's reason for having Sir Roger come to town? His 



1 64 QUESTIONS AND NOTES. 

purpose in having him tell about Will Wimble, Moll White, and Tom 
Touchy? 

Discuss the appropriateness of the Latin motto for this paper. 

Examine the division of the paper into paragraphs, and tell whether 
or not each paragraph develops a new topic. 

Sir Roger in Westminster Abbey, pp. 125-130. — What is the 
point of Addison's satire in mentioning Sir Roger's frequent citation of 
Baker's Chronicle? 

Point out other weaknesses of Sir Roger that are satirized in this 
account. 

What is at the bottom of the Knight's admiration for the various 
persons whose tombs were inspected? 

How does he betray his political prejudice? 

Sir Roger and Beards, pp. 130-134. — This paper was written 
chiefly for the purpose of entertainment. The discussion, however, 
may be seriously applied in a few instances to frivolities of the time. 
What would likely be the moral which the Spectator promises in 
another paper? 

Sir Roger at the Play, pp. 134-138. — Why was The Committee a 
play which would please Sir Roger? 

Look up the account of the barbarities committed by the Mohocks 
(Spectator , Nos. 324 and 347). 

How are we impressed by the account of the special attention paid 
Sir Roger by his friends who escort him to and from the theater? 

Account for the behavior of Sir Roger at the play. ' 

What mental capacity of Sir Roger is reflected in his comments upon 
the action and the characters of the play? 

The Distressed Mother, 134: Note 2. A criticism of this play ap- 
pears in the Spectator, No. 338, and is answered in No. 341. See also 
No. 290. The prologue of the play was written by Steele and the 
epilogue by Addison. 

Will Honeycomb at the Club, pp. 139-142. — Compare the two 
lovers, — Sir Roger and Will Honeycomb. 

What class of men is typified in Will Honeycomb? 



QUESTIONS AND NOTES. 165 

Do his experiences seem probable? 
Do we have an utter contempt for him? 

Other interesting accounts of Will Honeycomb may be found in 
Spectator, Nos. 105 and 499. No. 530 tells of Will's marriage. 

Sir Roger at Spring Garden, pp. 142-145. — How do the various 
incidents reported in this paper show the wide dissemblance in city and 
country manners? 

What attractive qualities does Sir Roger exhibit? 

What does the paper contribute toward the general purpose of the 
Spectator? 

The following paragraph has been omitted from the text: "As we 
were going out of the garden, my old friend, thinking himself obliged 
as a member of, the quorum to animadvert upon the morals of the place, 
told the mistress of the house, who sat at the bar, that he should be a 
better customer to her garden if there were more nightingales and 
fewer strumpets." 

Sir Roger's Death, pp. 146-148. — What is the reason for having 
the particulars concerning Sir Roger's death, his funeral, and his will 
given in a letter from the butler? 

What traits does Addison wish to be most prominent in our final 
estimate of Sir Roger? 

Taking the papers in this collection as a whole how may we justify 
the statement of Macaulay that "Addison is entitled to be considered 
as the forerunner of the great English novelists"? 

Find allusions in various papers to prove that the writer was a spec- 
tator — not a talker. 

No. 544 (Spectator) contains a letter from Captain Sentry which gives 
the account of his coming to the succession of Sir Roger's estate and of 
his carrying out his old master's wishes. 

Thus far we have seen that the author has concluded his sketches 
of three members of the club. Sir Roger has died. Will Honeycomb 
has been transformed from the rake to the sober husband of a plain 
country girl. Captain Sentry is living quietly upon the De Coverley 
estate. 

It is interesting to know how the author disposes of the three remain- 
ing members of the club. The information is to be found in the fol- 



1 66 LITERARY CRITICISMS. 

lowing numbers of the Spectator: No. 541 tells us that the Templar has 
determined to lay aside his poetical studies in order to follow a closer 
pursuit of the law, and has put together, as a farewell essay, "Some 
Thoughts Concerning Pronunciation and Action." In No. 549 we learn 
that Sir Andrew has retired from business and has purchased a great 
tract of land where he intends to provide work for a great many in- 
digent persons. In the same paper the death of the clergyman is 
reported. 

LITERARY CRITICISMS. 

"But it is not for his reputation as the great author of 'Cato' and 
the 'Campaign,' or for his merits as Secretary of State, or for his rank 
and high distinction as My Lady Warwick's husband, or for his emi- 
nence as an Examiner of political questions on the Whig side, or a 
Guardian of British liberties, that we admire Joseph Addison. It is as 
a Tatler of small talk and a Spectator of mankind, that we cherish and 
love him, and owe as much pleasure to him as to any human being that 
ever wrote. He came in that artificial age, and began to speak with 
his noble, natural voice. He came, the gentle satirist, who hit no un- 
fair blow; the kind judge, who castigated only in smiling. While 
Swift went about, hanging and ruthless — a literary Jeffries — in Addi- 
son's kind court only minor cases were tried: only peccadilloes and 
small sins against society: only a dangerous libertinism in tuckers and 
hoops; or a nuisance in the abuse of beaux' canes and snuff-boxes. It 
may be a lady is tried for breaking the peace of our sovereign lady 
Queen Anne, and ogling too dangerous from the side box: or a Templar 
for beating the watch, or breaking Priscian's head: or a citizen's wife 
for caring too much for the puppet-show, and too little for her husband 
and children: every one of the little sinners brought before him is 
amusing, and he dismisses each with the pleasantest penalties and the 
most charming words of admonition. . . . What would Sir Roger De 
Coverley be without his follies and his charming little brain-cracks? 
If the good knight did not call out to the people sleeping in church, and 
say 'Amen' with such a delightful pomposity: if he did not make a 
speech in the assize-court apropos de bottes, and merely to show his 
dignity to Mr. Spectator: if he did not mistake Madam Doll Tearsheet 
for a lady of quality in Temple Garden: if he were wiser than he is: if 



LITERARY CRITICISMS. 167 

he had not his humor to salt his life, and were but a mere English 
gentleman and game-preserver — of what worth were he to us? We 
love him for his vanities as much as his virtues. What is ridiculous is 
delightful in him: we are so fond of him because we laugh at him so. 
And out of that laughter, out of those harmless eccentricities and follies, 
out of that touched brain, and out of that honest manhood and sim- 
plicity — we get a result of happiness, goodness, tenderness, pity, 
piety." — From Thackeray's English Humorists. 

"He had read with critical eyes the important volume of human life, 
and knew the heart of man from the depths of stratagem to the sur- 
face of affectation. . . . He has restored virtue to its dignity, and 
taught innocence not to be ashamed. No greater felicity can genius 
attain than that of having purified intellectual pleasures, separated 
mirth from indecency, and wit from licentiousness; of having taught a 
succession of writers to bring elegance and gayety to the aid of good- 
ness; and, if I may use expressions yet more awful, of having 'turned 
many to righteousness.' . . . His prose is the model of the middle 
style; on grave subjects not formal, on light occasions not groveling; 
pure without scrupulosity, and exact without apparent elaboration; 
always equable, and always easy, without glowing words or pointed 
sentences. ... It was apparently his principal endeavor to avoid all 
harshness and severity of diction; he is therefore sometimes verbose 
in his transitions and connections, and sometimes descends too much 
to the language of conversation: yet if his language had been less 
idiomatical it might have lost somewhat of its genuine Anglicism. 
What he attempted he performed ; he is never feeble, and he did not 
wish to be energetic; he is never rapid and he never stagnates. His 
sentences have neither studied amplitude, nor affected brevity; his 
periods, though not diligently rounded, are voluble and easy. Who- 
ever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and 
elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the 
volumes of Addison." — From Johnson's Lives of the Poets. 



A HISTORY OF ENGLISH 
LITERATURE 

By REUBEN POST HALLECK, M.A. (Yale), 
Louisville Male High School. Price, $1.25 



HALLECK'S HISTORY OF ENGLISH LIT- 
ERATURE traces the development of that litera- 
ture from the earliest times to the present in a 
concise, interesting, and stimulating manner. Although the 
subject is presented so clearly that it can be readily com- 
prehended by high school pupils, the treatment is sufficiently 
philosophic and suggestive for any student beginning the 
study. 

^1 The book is a history of literature, and not a mere col- 
lection of biographical sketches. Only enough of the facts 
of an author's life are given to make students interested in 
him as a personality, and to show how his environment 
affected his work. Each author's productions, their rela- 
tions to the age, and the reasons why they hold a position 
in literature, receive adequate treatment. 
^[ One of the most striking features of the work consists in 
the way in which literary movements are clearly outlined at 
the beginning of each chapter. Special attention is given to 
the essential qualities which differentiate one period from 
another, and to the animating spirit of each age. The author 
shows that each period has contributed something definite 
to the literature of England. 

^[ At the end of each chapter a carefully prepared list of 
books is given to direct the student in studying the original 
works of the authors treated. He is told not only what to 
read, but also where to find it at the least cost. The book 
contains a special literary map of England in colors. 



AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

<S.9o) 



INTRODUCTION TO 
AMERICAN LITERATURE 

By BRANDER MATTHEWS, A.M., LL.B., Profes- 
sor of Literature, Columbia University. Price, $1.00 



EX-PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT, in a most ap- 
preciative review in The Bookman, says : "The 
book is a piece of work as good of its kind as any 
American scholar has ever had in his hands. It is just 
the kind of book that should be given to a beginner, be- 
cause it will give him a clear idea of what to read, and of 
the relative importance of the authors he is to read ; yet it 
is much more than merely a book for beginners. Any 
student of the subject who wishes to do good work here- 
after must not only read Mr. Matthews' book, but must 
largely adopt Mr. Matthews' way of looking at things, 
for these simply written, unpretentious chapters are worth 
many times as much as the ponderous tomes which con- 
tain what usually passes for criticism ; and the principles 
upon which Mr. Matthews insists with such quiet force 
and good taste are those which must be adopted, not 
only by every student of American writings, but by ever 
American writer, if he is going to do what is really worth 
doing. ... In short, Mr. Matthews has produced 
an admirable book, both in manner and matter, and has 
made a distinct addition to the very literature of which he 
writes." 

^1" The book is amply provided with pedagogical features. 
Each chapter includes questions for review, bibliograph- 
ical notes, facsimiles of manuscripts, and portraits, while 
at the end of the volume is a brief chronology of American 
literature. 



AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

(S. 9 



COMPOSITION-RHETORIC 

By STRATTON D. BROOKS, Superintendent of 
Schools, Boston, Mass., and MARIETTA HUB- 
BARD, formerly English Department, High School, 
La Salle, 111. Price, $1.00 



THE fundamental aim of this volume is to enable pupils 
to express their thoughts freely, clearly, and forcibly. 
At the same time it is designed to cultivate literary 
appreciation, and to develop some knowledge of rhetorical 
theory. The work follows closely the requirements of the 
College Entrance Examination Board, and of the New 
York State Education Department. 

^j In Part One are given the elements of description, narra- 
tion, exposition, and argument; also special chapters on let- 
ter-writing and poetry. A more complete and comprehensive 
treatment of the four forms of discourse already discussed is 
furnished in Part Two. In each partis presented a series of 
themes covering these subjects, the purpose being to give the 
pupil inspiration, and that confidence in himself which comes 
from the frequent repetition of an act. A single new princi- 
ple is introduced into each theme, and this is developed in 
the text, and illustrated by carefully selected examples. 
^| The pupils are taught how to correct their own errors, 
and also how to get the main thought in preparing their 
lessons. Careful coordination with the study of literature 
and with other schooi studies is made throughout the book. 
^| The modern che acter of the illustrative extracts can not 
fail to interest every boy and girl. Concise summaries are 
given followingthe treatment of the various forms of discourse, 
and toward the end of the book there is a very comprehensive 
and compact summary of grammatical principles. More than 
usual attention is devoted to the treatment of argument. 



AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

(S. 88) 



ESSENTIALS IN HISTORY 



ESSENTIALS IN ANCIENT HISTORY . gi.yo 

From the earliest records to Charlemagne. By 
ARTHUR MAYER WOLFSON, Ph.D., First 
Assistant in History, DeWitt Clinton High School, 
New York 

ESSENTIALS IN MEDIEVAL AND MODERN 
HISTORY $1.50 

From Charlemagne to the present day. By SAMUEL 
BANNISTER HARDING, Ph.D., Professor of 
European History, Indiana University 

ESSENTIALS IN ENGLISH HISTORY . $1.50 

From the earliest records to the present day. By 
ALBERT PERRY WALKER, A.M., Master in 
History, English High School, Boston 

ESSENTIALS IN AMERICAN HISTORY . $1.50 

From the discovery to the present day. By ALBERT 
BUSH NELL HART, LL.D., Professor of History, 
Harvard University 

THESE volumes correspond to the four subdivisions 
required by the College Entrance Examination 
Board, and by the New York State Education De- 
partment. Each volume is designed for one year's work. 
Each of the writers is a trained historical scholar, familiar 
with the conditions and needs of secondary schools. 
^1" The effort has been to deal only with the things which 
are typical and characteristic; to avoid names and details 
which have small significance, in order to deal more justly 
with the forces which have really directed and governed 
mankind. Especial attention is paid to social history, 
^j The books are readable and teachable, and furnish brief 
but useful sets of bibliographies and suggestive questions. 
No pains have been spared by maps and pictures to furnish 
a significant and thorough body of illustration. 



AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

(s.130) 



THE MASTERY OF BOOKS 

By HARRY LYMAN KOOPMAN, A.M., Librarian 
of Brown University. Price, 90 cents 



IN this book Mr. Koopman, whose experience and 
reputation as a librarian give him unusual qualifications 
as an adviser, presents to the student at the outset the 
advantages of reading, and the great field of literature 
open to the reader's choice. He takes counsel with the 
student as to his purpose, capacities, and opportunities in 
reading, and aims to assist him in following such methods 
and in turning to such classes of books as will further the 
attainment of his object. 

^j Pains are taken to provide the young student from the 
beginning with a knowledge, often lacking in older readers, 
of the simplest literary tools — reference books and cata- 
logues. An entire chapter is given to the discussion of 
the nature and value of that form of printed matter which 
forms the chief reading of the modern world — periodical 
literature. Methods of note- taking and of mnemonics 
are fully described ; and a highly suggestive and valuable 
chapter is devoted to language study. 
^j One of the most valuable chapters in the volume to 
most readers is that concerning courses of reading. In 
accordance with the author's new plan for the guidance 
of readers, a classified list of about fifteen hundred books 
is given, comprising the most valuable works in reference 
books, periodicals, philosophy, religion, mythology and 
folk-lore, biography, history, travels, sociology, natural 
sciences, art, poetry, fiction, Greek, Latin, and modern 
literatures. The latest and best editions are specified, and 
the relative value of the several works mentioned is indi- 
cated in notes. 



AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

(S. 106) 



ESSENTIALS IN AMERICAN 
HISTORY 

From tiie Discovery to the Present Day. By ALBERT 
BUSHNELL HART, LL.D., Professor of History, 

Harvard University. Price, $1.50 



PROFESSOR HART was a member of the Committee 
of Seven, and consequently is exceptionally qualified to 
supervise the preparation of a series of text-books which 
carry out the ideas of that Committee. The needs of sec- 
ondary schools, and the entrance requirements to all colleges, 
are fully met by the Essentials in History Series. 
^| This volume reflects in an impressive manner the writer's 
broad grasp of the subject, his intimate knowledge of the 
relative importance of events, his keen insight into the cause 
and effect of each noteworthy occurrence, and his thorough 
familiarity with the most helpful pedagogical features. 
^j The purpose of the book is to present an adequate de 
scription of all essential things in the upbuilding of the 
country, and to supplement this by good illustrations and 
maps. Political geography v being the background of all 
historical knowledge, is made a special topic, while the 
development of government, foreign relations, the diplo- 
matic adjustment of controversies, and social and economic 
conditions have been duly emphasized. 
^1" All sections of the Union, North, East, South, West, and 
Far West, have received fair treatment. Much attention is 
paid to the causes andresults of our various wars, but only the 
most significant battles and campaigns have been described. 
The book aims to make distinct the character and public 
services of some great Americans, brief accounts of whose 
lives are given in special sections of the text. 



AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

<S. 119) 



GREEK AND ROMAN 
HISTORIES 

By WILLIAM C. MOREY, Professor of History and 

Political Science, University of Rochester 

Each, $1.00 



MOREY'S OUTLINES OF GREEK HISTORY, 
which is introduced by a brief sketch of the pro- 
gress of civilization before the time of the Greeks 
among the Oriental peoples, pays greater attention to the 
civilization of ancient Greece than to its political history. 
The author has endeavored to illustrate by facts the most 
important and distinguishing traits of the Grecian char- 
acter; to explain why the Greeks failed to develop a 
national state system, although successful to a consider- 
able extent in developing free institutions and an organized 
city state; and to show the great advance made by the 
Greeks upon the previous culture of the Orient. 
«(J MOREY'S OUTLINES OF ROMAN HISTORY 
gives the history of Rome to the revival of the empire by 
Charlemagne. Only those facts and events which illus- 
trate the real character of the Roman people, which show 
the progressive development of Home as a world power, 
and which explain the influence that Rome has exercised 
upon modern civilization, have been emphasized. The 
genius of the Romans for organization, which gives them 
their distinctive place in history, is kept prominently in 
mind, and the kingdom, the republic, and the empire are 
seen to be but successive stages in the growth of a policy 
to bring together and organize the various elements of the 
ancient world. 



AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

(S 136) 



OUTLINES OF GENERAL 
HISTORY 

By FRANK MOORE COLBY, M. A., recently Pro- 
fessor of Economics, New York University 

£1.50 



THIS volume provides at once a general foundation 
for historical knowledge and a stimulus for further 
reading. It gives each period and subject its 
proper historical perspective, and provides a narrative 
which is clear, connected, and attractive. From first to 
last only information that is really useful has been included. 
^[ The history is intended to be suggestive and not 
exhaustive. Although the field covered is as wide as 
possible, the limitations of space have obliged the writer to 
restrict the scope at some points; this he has done in the 
belief that it is preferable to giving a mere catalogue 
of events. The chief object of attention in the chapters 
on mediaeval and modern history is the European nations, 
and in treating them an effort has been made to trace their 
development as far as possible in a connected narrative, 
indicating the causal relations of events. Special emphasis 
is given to the great events of recent times. 
^| The book is plentifully supplied with useful pedagogical 
features. The narrative follows the topical manner of 
treatment, and is not overcrowded with names and dates. 
The various historical phases and periods are clearly shown 
by a series of striking progressive maps, many of which 
are printed in colors. The illustrations are numerous and 
finely executed. Each chapter closes with a summary and 
synopsis for review, covering all important matters. 



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